


Beautiful Thing

by KrissyG927



Series: Daryl ZA stories [9]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, I wrote a slow burn, Slow Burn, Still my usual bullshit, ZA, i can't believe it, some canon plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 67,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25841347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrissyG927/pseuds/KrissyG927
Summary: So I'm floating this out there to see if anyone is interested in reading a fairly long ZA Daryl fiction. Also I wrote this story to give a girl named Lucy a happier ending than in Blood Requiem xxxxx. Trying to finish my other two stories as well, God's Ant Farm and Rag Doll, thanks for hanging in there with me on those stories. I think I had to get this one out of my system before I could finish those, we'll see.
Relationships: Andrea/Merle Dixon, Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Daryl ZA stories [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771432
Comments: 164
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Magenta's Nightmare and Zanash for editing and helping me with this. I love you guys.

The dead sticks and pine needles on the ground crunched under her feet as Lucy made her way through the woods slowly with care; that was how it had to be now. The leaves rustled above her head and she glanced up at the sun, bright, and burning the fog off of the early morning. 

Her hand blocked it somewhat, and it wasn’t anywhere near high noon yet, but it was well on its way to being hot as hell again. It was summertime, her favorite time of the year. But that didn’t matter anymore, nothing mattered.

She had lost her sunglasses and made a mental note to get some on their way out of town. There was a pharmacy nearby, and no one was there to even care if she took them.

Suddenly, the old rules no longer applied and she was thrust into something she was not entirely prepared for. There had been no warning when it all went to hell and the world had been in shock when it first happened. 

Lucy had so much responsibility now. For the last few years she had only ever needed to worry about herself, but then the world ended and it had all changed.

This was her routine now, every morning; fitful sleep for a few hours, if she fell asleep at all and then walking the perimeter of their yard. She lit a precious cigarette, one of the many things she once took for granted and now savored. Cigarettes were hard to find now, they had been cleared out of the local stores ages ago by looters. It was fine, she needed to quit anyway.

This day was going to be just like the last, like everyday had been, at least she was still standing. The world had gone to shit but she had things to do. Lucy stayed close to the house, just to be safe, but she needed to make sure no one was around.

Marylee, her sister still slept peacefully, finally, in the house behind her, but today they had to leave, they were out of food and out of water. They had held out for a long time at their childhood home, but it was time to go. Marylee had been crying for days, their parents were buried in the back yard and she didn’t want to leave them. She cried herself to sleep the night before, even though the last time she laid eyes on them they had been animated corpses.

Lucy had to put them down and it had not been easy, that day had given her a crash course in killing the dead ones. The dead ones that you loved.

/////////////////

They each packed a backpack, Marylee at fifteen, surprisingly didn't require a lot. Both of them were low maintenance thanks to their father raising them as country girls. A few pairs of jeans, her doc martens and a few concert t-shirts and Lucy was ready to go. 

They each had a gun stuffed down the back of their pants, and several knives stashed in their boots. These were strange times now, both girls were thankful for their fathers hindsight in preparing them to defend themselves, they were better off than most. 

They stood in the driveway looking at the house they likely would never see again and Lucy took Marylee’s hand. They had both grown up in this house, all of their memories were there, all of the good times and it was hard to go. But they had no choice, the house was set far in the woods, and it was a days walk to the closest town at least. They had no gas for the cars now, it had been used over the past few weeks as Lucy went out looking for supplies every day.

"I'm sorry Mary," Lucy said softly.

Marylee didn't answer, she just looked up at her older sister by ten years and gave her a sad smile. Even though this was horrible, she was so happy Lucy had come home. There was no way that she could have done any of this alone. Lucy was her lifeline, she had saved her. How could she figure out a way to put it into words, Marylee didn’t even know what she was feeling.

As they walked Marylee finally spoke with a simple, "Thank you for coming back." 

"I would never leave you alone…"

Lucy had been working in Pittsburg ever since graduating from U Pitt Nursing School a few years ago. She worked as a nurse and also wrote for an online music website. When the news started blowing up about the new virus she had hightailed it home. Her parents were already sick and died soon after she got there. Then it all went to shit after that, since then Lucy and Marylee had been holed up in their house, but it was time to go.

"What was Pittsburgh like?"

Lucy shook her head, "You don't wanna know."

//////////////

“I’m not a kid anymore, I can take it Lucy.” Marylee pestered as they walked through the woods towards the road that would lead to Atlanta, even though she was pretty sure it was blown up a few days ago. They had seen the helicopters fly in that direction and had heard the explosions.

The CDC was there and Lucy figured it was as good a place to start as any. Surely someone there knew something. She kept her thoughts from Marylee for weeks, and just did what she needed to do to keep them alive in a world of the dead. But Marylee wanted to know the truth and she deserved to know.

“It’s never going to be the same again, the old rules don’t apply anymore.” Lucy answered without turning to meet her eyes. She was scared too and she didn’t want Marylee to know it.

“Tell the truth Lucy, always tell me the truth from now on,” Marylee pleaded, “You won't be doing me any favors if you don’t. Dad was the same way with me as he was with you. The jiu jitsu and the weapons, he knew something would happen.”

Their father had been a prepper of sorts, their house had been small and they only had two weeks worth of food but it was a start. The girls had made it last over a month though, aware that they needed to conserve all resources now. That was also something their father had taught them.

More than that though, he had made sure his daughters knew how to fight. Many nights after school he had them spar with him in the garage, preparing for something. He didn’t know what, how could he? But he didn’t want his girls to be defenseless, and they weren’t.

As he got older Mitch Blumfield, their father had become something of a conspiracy theorist, he even ran a podcast from his garage for a few years; Lucy had listened dutifully, even if she didn’t always agree with his views. 

Sometimes she thought he just had too much time on his hands. But he was her dad and she loved him so much. 

Mitch had been right though and in case he wasn’t around, he wanted to make sure they knew how to shoot a gun and use a knife. “Don’t hold back Lucy,” He would say, “Don’t be afraid of hurting someone, because they want to hurt you!”

“He did, didn’t he.” Marylee sighed. 

“Yeah, he did.” Lucy said as she held a tree branch so that Marylee could get by, “I always thought he was a little over the top, between his beliefs and the podcast, but then this epidemic happened.”

“Yeah” Marylee answered as she followed behind her sister, “Imagine that.”

“He was smarter and more intuned than we ever gave him credit for,” Lucy mused as they walked, “But he was right all along.”

“... lucky for us…” Marylee answered and then they were silent for the rest of the walk for a while.

What else was there to say anyway, they were both lost in their thoughts wondering what in the world they were going to do now. Thanks to their father they were prepared for some things, but life on the road was a scary thought, it reminded Marylee of the book The Stand that she had read several times. Lucy had read it too, maybe later she would ask her older sister what she thought of the parallels now and if they would meet good and evil in their travels.

Maybe it was Captain Trips that got everyone and did what it did to them. If that was true Marylee did not want to meet some of the people in that book, although some might have been fine. But this was real life, not a Stephen King book and that was perhaps worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the awesome feed back on this :) You all are the best!!!

It was hot, the dead of summer and it was fitting in Lucy’s mind. The dead were walking in the hazy hot heat, and as they shuffled down the street, following them, easily they gave the slow moving bodies the slip. There were a few ahead of them but Lucy was OK with that, she could dispatch with them if she had to.It wasn’t the dead ones she was worried about. It was other people she feared, making her way from Pittsburgh to Georgia had reminded her just how cruel people could be to one another.

She did tell her sister a little bit as they packed some food, cigarettes for Lucy and sunglasses from the pharmacy. It felt like stealing and she didn’t like to feel that way, she wondered if she would ever get over that.

“You know it took me a week to drive what should have been a ten hour drive.” Lucy explained, “And I left as soon as the news talked about a quarantine and ban on state to state travel.”

“Thank god you knew…”

“By then I was in North Carolina, and it was getting bad.”

Lucy was aware that after she left the cities were all locked down while the national guard tried to control the riots and looting. Soon it was out of control, she told Marylee about stopping for gas and the pumps being off, of course Mitch had taught them how to siphon gas.

“There was this guy who snuck up on me while i was getting some food,”

“But you kicked his ass…”

“Yes, but only because he was alone, if he had friends, I’d be dead now.”

“Lucy?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think the government did this?”

Lucy lit a cigarette as they stepped outside on the main street. There were a few of the dead ones walking around, but nothing to panic about.

“I don’t know, Dad always said they were trying to thin the herd right?” She answered, “But the 1% didn’t even survive, someone miscalculated big time.”

“Yeah they did,” Marylee answered, “Can I have one of those?”

“A cigarette?” Lucy was annoyed now, “No, fuck no, you don't smoke.”

“What does it matter? The world ended, didn’t you notice?”

“It matters,” Lucy began to walk and Marylee followed, “I know I’m a bad example, I’ll try and do better.”

“Luce, how can you say that?”

“I should have come home more often…”

Marylee stopped her in the middle of the road. She wrapped her arms around her sister and held her tight.

“You stop that right now. Dad wasn’t mad, Mom wasn’t mad, neither am I.” They hugged as long as they could, always being aware that the dead were around. That was something that they were oddly used to already. They had not seen any live people, and according to Lucy that was a good thing.

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda right?” She tossed her cigarette down after they embraced, got her knife from her boot and took out two animated corpses that got too close as Marylee backed up and took care of the third.

As they re-sheathed their knives and stashed them back in their boots Lucy stood up and looked around.

“Atlanta is that way…” She pointed to the city in the distance.

“Lead on big sister…” She followed after.

“Don’t smoke, you hear me?” Lucy reminded her.

“Loud and clear,” Marylee saluted.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The first night on the road for two girls alone in the world was nerve wracking to say the least, Lucy wasn’t so much afraid for herself as she was for her little sister. Lucy could take what the world could dish out, but no one would go near Marylee, over her dead cold body. They spent the first night in an old gas station on their way to Atlanta. They woke up early the next morning as the sun went up.

They hadn’t seen another soul the entire day before, so when they stopped at the gas station they felt safe. They knew it wasn’t the place to stay though by seven am the next day. That was the whole problem and there were so many unknown variables, like the one they were watching, the first other person that they had seen in a month or more.

Lucy’s heart was beating out of her chest, this was not good.

Friend or foe? Lucy wasn’t interested in finding out. Her dealings with live people on the road to home had all been bad, she had been robbed, her car was stolen and worse. If she didn’t know how to hot wire a car she would have been sunk. Mitch was and always would be her hero.

He had taught her how to hot wire a car and start an older model car with a screwdriver. Marylee had all those skills too, fucking Mitch.

“Shhhhhh,” Lucy pointed in the distance, there was a man walking away from them with a crossbow on his back, “Don’t let him see us. The last thing we need is some nitwit attacking us.”

“How do you know he’s dangerous,” Marylee hissed, “Looks like he’s just hunting, he’s got one of those animal strings on him Dad taught us how to make to carry the kill.”

“I don’t care!” Lucy hissed low in her throat, “We trust no one!”

“Why are you so paranoid?” Marylee continued, “Maybe there’s other people around.”

“Listen, I told you what happened when I drove down from Pitt, there were riots and looting all over the place, people aren’t the same anymore. They’ll kill you for a slice of bread and not even flinch about it. We have to be careful.”

“I bet he’s just a nice country boy.” Marylee mused as Lucy pulled at her to get moving in the opposite direction from the man. He had been too close and Lucy wanted to put some space between him and them, the sooner the better; she was afraid.

“That’s a chance I’m not willing to take, little sister.”

////////////////////////////

Daryl kept walking, he saw the two of them from the jump but they obviously didn’t want him to know they were there. He couldn’t blame them, women on the road were in danger every minute of every day. That was why he was heading back to find Merle and Andrea to come help him scoop up these two idiot girls before some highway rapist showed up.

He knew that if he approached them without another woman they would run like the scared rabbits they were. The camp was just on the other side of the ridge, a ten minute walk, he’d come back and save these two from themselves.

They were smart to stay out of sight but his instincts were so honed that even from yards away he knew they were there. Years of hunting for his food before the turn guaranteed that. He had seen them before they had ever known he was there, but he kept a comfortable distance and pretended he was oblivious to their existence so they didn’t run.

It was like the game you played when you were hunting a deer, if they knew you were there they’d spook and run. That was the last thing he wanted to happen, he had enough on his conscience to last a lifetime, he didn’t want these two women there too.

Careful not to spook them, he just continued on his way, but he would be back, with help to convince these two to come off the road and to their camp.

He and Merle had seen some shit go down in their town and he knew that two girls alone, whether they knew it or not were in danger just by the nature of their existence now. But he needed back up, and he needed Andrea.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl was back at camp and looking for Merle and Andrea in ten minutes. He had run a lot of the way back not wanting the two women to get too far away. He figured they would stay out of sight and travel along the road but in the woods parallel, that was what he would do anyway. Also if they saw him running in the opposite direction they wouldn’t necessarily feel threatened by that.

Surely they knew to stay off the main roads, but what if they didn’t? He didn’t want to think about what could happen to them. They looked young and Daryl was quite sure human trafficking was still going on in the world, somethings just didn't go away. Bad people still did really bad things, the end of the world would not change that.

Finally he found Merle down by the lake fishing sitting side by side with Andrea and startled them both as he approached. But he was in a hurry, there was no time to lose these days, and it wasn’t the dead you necessarily had to fear.

“Merle I need your help…” He gasped out, he was almost out of breath, “You too Andrea.”

“Come on brother, you’re scaring all the fish…” Merle answered not looking up from where he was sitting in a camp chair next to Andrea. 

“Saw a couple of girls down the way, all by themselves…” He blurted out.

“Yeah, so…”

“We gotta go help them.”

“Go ahead…”

“Merle! We can't leave them alone out there…” Andrea chastised as she yanked her pole out of the water.

“I know, I know, just messing with him alright.” Merle did the same, he was just like his brother, right, wrong or indifferent, he did care about people.

The brothers had seen some bad stuff, both before and after the world went to shit. Their neighbor and Merle’s sometimes fuck buddy had been snatched right off the street two days after the voluntary quarantine started. 

It had happened so fast that by the time Merle and Daryl had gotten in the truck to give chase the car was gone. The world had been a shitty place even before the virus and now it was just full of lawlessness and people doing whatever the fuck they wanted.

There was safety in numbers, he was a loner and even he knew that. But something told him that this particular good deed was going to bite him in the ass somehow; he just had a feeling.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

“Hey…”

Lucy turned when she heard a woman’s voice not far from them. Had they been followed? It both terrified and relieved her, it was all about keeping Marylee safe. She turned quickly drawing the gun that was behind her tucked into the waistband of her jeans and came face to face with the crossbow man that they had seen from afar, crossbow drawn. 

They both released their safeties on their weapons and stared at each other. If looks could kill they would both be dead, neither Daryl nor Lucy flinched. She had a lot of nerve pointing a gun in his face, Daryl thought to himself; he was trying to help her!  
This one was going to be trouble, he could feel it in his bones.

“Marylee get behind me now!” Lucy spoke but never took her stare from the man in front of her. He had about three days worth of dirt on him, and she could see blood on the pants he wore, probably from the animals he hunted, but Lucy wasn’t taking any chances.  
Marylee backed up as Merle reacted and tried to figure out the best course of action. Both his brother and this crazy girl had their fingers on the trigger and that wouldn’t end well for anyone.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Merle, motioned Andrea behind him but stepped forward to try and diffuse this situation before someone got hurt, “We don’t mean you any harm girlie.”

“We don’t kill the living…” Daryl snarled at the girl, and she still didn't lower her gun. If she wasn’t budging then he wasn’t either, already she was a pain in his ass.

“You aren’t really getting that point across to me right now.” Lucy snarled back.

“I saw you two over at the gas station about 45 minutes ago, give or take. I kept walkin cause I didn’t think you wanted company.”

“You should have kept walking…” Lucy hissed, “We don’t want company.”

They were at an impasse, this wasn’t how the three of them thought this would go down. Two girls on the road alone was a bad idea, but Daryl and the red haired girl, woman really, she was clearly no kid now that he could see her close up, were about to kill each other.  
Andrea and Amy had been so happy to join up with their group, she didn’t realize or think that they might not want to be with other people, for whatever reasons.

“Oh, all this lovemakin is makin me blush,” Merle diffused and it was just enough that both of them flinched, “Just hold off with the eye fucking and listen to me.”

“We got a camp not far from here,” Andrea stepped forward from behind Merle, they needed to hear this from her. “All good folks, other women and kids, my sister and I, they saved us. You’d be safe with us.”

Marylee was beside herself with joy behind her but Lucy wasn’t sure, people were often not what you thought they were. She didn't lower her gun, this could be a blessing or a curse. They were strangers and even though there was a woman with them that could be a trap.  
Women did fucked up things sometimes, which was why she didn’t really like other women, even before this. There was all the bitchiness and back stabbing, and that could be going on right now without her even knowing it.  
This Andrea was no one to her and her two male companions were scary. They were backwoods men for sure, the kind that lived off the grid, who knew who the hell they were.

“If you’re lying to me, or this jackass tries to take my gun,” She pointed her gun towards Daryl more, “I’m gonna put a bullet in your head first. Girl code and all of that.” Lucy stated matter of factly to Andrea who nodded in agreement. Merle just wondered what this girl code was and Daryl did not move.

“Fair enough right?,” She turned to Merle who brought his hand to Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl reluctantly lowered his weapon and then so did Lucy. Neither of them was happy about it either, they both regarded each other with disdain even more without weapons drawn. Lucy kept her eyes trained on him and he did the same.

“I’m Marylee and my sister with the attitude is Lucy,” Marylee stated as she reached her hand out to Andrea and the brothers. She was relieved beyond belief to meet others. Lucy hadn’t slept through the night in weeks. She was worried about her, and being with others would hopefully bring the pressure off of her.

“Daryl, Merle and I’m Andrea,” Then she smiled at Marylee, “Are you about sixteen?”

She nodded.

“So is my sister,” Andrea exclaimed, “This is perfect!” She clapped her hands together with glee and nearly jumped up and down at the idea of Amy having someone to hang out with her own age. Carl and Sophia followed her around all day long and Amy had been a good sport about it but having someone her own age would be great for her.

It took a while to sell Lucy on the idea of throwing in their lot with these strangers, but there was safety in numbers, she knew that. Eventually she agreed and they headed towards the campsite by the quarry.

Maybe they would stay or maybe they wouldn’t, she would decide that after she saw what was going on.

Marylee was thrilled to meet Amy, just as Andrea had promised and this made Lucy’s heart light for the first time in two months. She hadn’t accounted for the human interaction that all people needed, even her.


	4. Chapter 4

She wasn’t exactly kicking and screaming but every one knew when Lucy and Marylee arrived. She snapped at Daryl the whole way back, and he reciprocated, she was spitfire mad; even if he had just been trying to help like he said. That fact remained to be seen though, maybe he was leading her to a worse fate than being alone.

“I was trying to help you.” Daryl said for the tenth time that day. All the way she had been running her mouth and acting tough, it was a cover and he understood; but he was really trying to help.

Lucy didn’t exactly see it that way, and she let him know, meanwhile Marylee was thrilled beyond belief to meet Amy and later to see a familiar face.

Rick and Shane were the ones in charge, that was obvious to Lucy from the minute she set foot in the camp. They both seemed capable and that was a good thing. The last thing anyone needed was a couple of swinging dicks having a pissing contest.

This was not the time for people to be at odds with each other if they could help it. It was a relief that this group was functioning in some positive way. She intended to let her voice and thoughts be known though if they stayed, she was her father’s daughter and Mitch did not raise a blind follower.

Lucy listened and observed those around her as she followed Merle and Daryl through the camp and soon she had a feel of what was what at this new location. Years of working at Pittsburgh General ER had trained her on how to make assessments quickly, triage a situation and decide a course of action.

Her brain was in overdrive as she met person after person and they tried to reassure her tired and suspicious mind. There were other women and they didn’t seem threatened at all, that was a positive thing.

Shane had told her that there were fish in the quarry and Daryl and Merle hunted for deer and any other critters they could find. The group appeared well fed, and not having missed many meals. There was food cooking as they arrived and it made her stomach growl when she smelled it.

It seemed the women did most of the ‘housekeeping’ chores but it was ok. Everyone had jobs to do and that was how they functioned as a unit. Two women were cooking when they arrived and there was a wire tied between two trees with laundry hanging from it.

They had pulled up a few picnic tables up from the park at the quarry to their campsite and set them up side by side. There was a fire ring and logs set up to sir on and someone had chopped a ton of wood.

There were tents set up and Andrea invited Lucy and Marylee to bunk down with her and Amy. There were a few spare tents and they could set one up next to the other sisters. Apparently Lucy had a new best friend, and she didn’t know what to make of it.

///////////////////

There were Two other women, a meek but sweet woman named Carol who had a daughter named Sophia and Lori Grimes. When they returned with Merle, Daryl and Andrea, they met everyone but Lucy was having trouble remembering all their names. It was like the first day of school.

This group seemed legit and what they said they were, just a group of people who threw their lot in with each other because there was nothing else to do. There was a radio, both for CB and then a boom box to listen to the news, an older guy named Dale had been trying to find a station on the radio but only got static.

“Been that way for weeks now.” He said to no one in particular.

Amy took to Marylee right away and the girls sat with the younger ones on a blanket as the adults figured out the next steps. Marylee made no effort to hide her relief and joy to be laying on a blanket next to a kid her own age.

They continued down towards the quarry just so Lucy could see where they were. If she was a local, she would know this place, every kid snuck in on the other side of the highway where the treeline wasn’t so dense.

Lucy knew the place alright, and so did Daryl and Merle, this wasn’t even their first time camping in the area.

While Lucy was talking to Rick all the way on the other side of the camp she heard a shriek that was definitely her sister.

“OHMYGOD!, OH MY GOD,” Lucy’s eyes grew wide at those words and she took off from the new people, running towards the noise and expecting the worst. Mentally preparing herself to kick some ass, Lucy was going for her gun; but what she found was her sister hugging some guy she didn’t know.

“Mary what the fuck!” Lucy skidded to a stop in the dirt before her sister and this guy in a baseball cap.

She was followed by Rick and Shane who were relieved to see it was not danger that made this new girl cry out. Behind them Daryl stood with a scowl, already half regretting his choice to bring these girls here.

They were already causing shit.

But, it had been the right thing, he would not have ever slept again knowing he could have helped and didn’t. But they were too fucking loud and he was ready to move his and Merle’s tents even farther away from the group.

But first he had to go hunting, for food and for some peace. He didn’t pay attention to the conversation, it was tent moving time.

“Luce this is Glenn, he delivered pizza to us for years…” Marylee was thrilled and it was obvious to Lucy that this Glenn character did in fact know her.

“You knew my Dad?”

“Screaming Mitch Blumfield, I sure did,” He remarked with a smile. It was clear he was not someone to fear and that was a good thing. The jury was still out on the rest of these people as far as Lucy was concerned.

“Lucy this is a sign.” Marylee declared, “Please can we stay here, please.”

“No promises, but…”

“A few days,” Marylee pleaded, “Then you’ll see, this is fate.”

Lucy did not believe in fate or any of those kinds of things. For now they would check this place out and decide then, she would decide. Marylee didn’t know it, but she really didn’t have a vote. Lucy was ten years older than Marylee and still saw her as a seven year old with no common sense.

There was an age difference between Andrea and Amy as well, Andrea had told her that on the way to camp. Lucy had not really been paying attention, she was too worried about this choice she made.

It wasn’t logical to her that a man would want to help them without some ulterior motive and part of her thought Andrea was some kind of beard till they got to camp. Then she had seen Carl and Sophia playing and other women and she let herself breathe again.


	5. 5

Lucy sat up with a sigh for what seemed to be the millionth time in her tent. Marylee was zonked out next to her and she didn’t want to wake her. It was clear she was not going to sleep that first night and she made her way to the fire pit where Glenn was sitting holding a rifle. 

He was on watch and she sat down in a camp chair next to him as he kept a small fire burning. Andrea was on top of the RV keeping watch in the other direction and Lucy waved to her as she sat down next to Glenn. She had met him earlier that day and he was a good guy. 

It had turned out that he had delivered pizza to her father all the time and he knew him and Marylee. He and Lucy had never met because of course she had not lived with them for a long time. 

Marylee had jumped into his arms right away as soon as they got back to camp with Merle, Daryl and Andrea and that had eased Lucy’s mind tenfold.

“So you're the infamous Lucy,” Glenn said, “He talked about you a lot.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, all the time, he was proud of you.”

Lucy smiled, it made her happy to know that her father was proud of her and not angry with her for not coming home as much as she should have, or could have.

“Did you listen to his podcast?”

“I tried to, but I was behind…” Lucy had been behind on everything when the world ended, she didn’t really have a lot of time with her job, but she had always meant to listen. Her father was known to wear a tin foil hat and was very open and upfront about being woke, as the saying went amongst the conspiracy theorists. 

His podcast was usually him yelling about the government and how they were all out to get the "little people". Some of his topics were just so out there. Some were suddenly starting to make sense too.

“He was a kook, but a damn good man.” Glenn stated, “He called you…”

“Lucy bean,” She answered for him and her chest tightened. She missed her father, it hurt so much to think about their last moments together. 

“Yeah,” Glenn answered, “His Lucy Bean.”

“And Mary Bird…”

“Yup,” Glenn laughed, “Two large pepperoni with peppers, well done, every Friday night. Sometimes he switched it up and got white pie but not too often.”

“I love that you remember that.” 

It was almost like things were meant to be, they needed her and she needed them even if it was hard to accept. Having someone there who knew Mitch was a comfort.

Glenn had even listened to the podcast, Fringe Radio. It was comforting in a way so when she saw him awake by the fire she decided to go sit with him. That was something she never would have done in the other world in the big city she lived in. 

Here in the country, the place she avoided for so long, she found that she wanted different things now. It was a matter of survival too. So sitting down by a campfire with a stranger didn’t seem all that odd all of the sudden.

“Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head, “You want me to take over so you can sleep?”

“Nah,” He answered, “I’m fine.”

They sat there in silence for a beat and it was fine, as if they were old friends now, then he spoke again.

“I couldn’t sleep when all of this first went down either, it gets better once you know there's people who have your back.”

“But that’s just it,” She tried to put her feelings into words that would make sense, they didn't even make sense to her, “Why would they want to.”

“They’re all really good people, mostly…” He motioned with his head to the tent where Carol, Ed and Sophia slept.

“Carol seems nice, and the girl of course, but that guy…”

“You caught onto that huh?” Glenn replied.

“I worked in the ER, I know domestic violence when I see it.”

“It's harder for him to do it with all of us around at least, but Shane is ready to kick his ass and no one would stop it.”

“What’s Rick’s deal? And Shane?”

“They’re both police officers, we all met up when it first went down and everyone was trying to get out of dodge. We were all stuck on the side of the road, we saw them bomb Atlanta.”

“So they did bomb it? We could hear it, but as you know our house was out in east jabib, so we didn’t see anything really.”

“They bombed it alright, it was awful to watch, “ He said with a shudder as he took a sip of water, “After that we all decided to get off the road and come up the mountain a bit. Daryl and Merle showed up a few days later.”

“What’s their deal?”

“Very rough around the edges, but good people once you get to know them.”

“I don’t know if Mary and I will be here long enough for that and he scared the fuck out of me anyway.”

“He was worried about two girls alone on the road.”

“Why, why would he worry about strangers. Is he that guy?” Lucy asked, “Why would his brain go there?”

Before Glenn could answer they saw a flash of a lighter by the trees as Daryl lit a cigarette and took a long drag, “I knew that guy, lots of them, women aren’t safe alone, y’all weren’t safe before the shit hit the fan. I…kept you from becoming some nit wit’s concubine...or worse,” He said simply as he walked away towards the tree line and away from camp, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder.

"I can take care of my sister and myself," She called after him quietly but Daryl ignored her or he didn't hear her. 

Either way he didn't respond but she was struck by his words...nitwit, like what she had said to Marylee when they first spotted him and thought he didn’t see them. Now of course she knew he was an expert hunter and tracker and he had known they were there all along.

“That was weird,” Lucy remarked to Glenn when Daryl was out of earshot, she wondered how long he had been standing there. 

“He leaves around this time to hunt every day, I saw him walk up.”

“How long was he there?”

Glenn shrugged, “Not long, Daryl is stealth though.”

"He's a jerk," Lucy replied, the hunter had already rubbed her the wrong way on several occasions and they had only been there a few hours.

"He's not so bad once you get to know him,"

"Like I said…"

"I know, you might not be staying …"

“Nothing personal Glenn, but my sister comes first, and I will do what’s best for her, always.” Lucy lit her own cigarette and inhaled slowly, looking up at the clear sky. The stars were bright and there was no noise, it was peaceful, and it wasn't lonely anymore.

“I get that and I think you’ll find out that what's best for both of you is being with us right here.” Glenn answered and then added, “Mitch would approve.”


	6. 6

This is the song that gave me the title of this. Originally it was titled something else. That title is going to a Mac story instead. :)

*****************Won't you sing to me your poetry,  
Won't you take me to your home,  
Won't you be for me forever  
So I'll never be alone  
And just one thing  
If you're my queen  
Then it's a beautiful thing.*****************

Beautiful Thing by Sister Hazel

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

For safety the camp perimeter was rigged with cans and bottles and soon Marylee was begging to go swimming in the quarry. That was apparently a daily thing for the younger group there. Lucy said no for a few days but finally acquiesced. 

They went in shifts if they were going to bathe, the women in the mornings and the men at night, in the afternoon the kids could swim. Lucy was reluctant to allow Marylee out of her sight, but they compromised and Lucy went too.

As she swam with her sister and they finally had a minute to breathe they played together with Amy, and the kids. Andrea called to them from the top of the ridge and before they knew it she was jumping down into the water.

The night before she had learned Andrea and Amy’s story, she was a lawyer and Amy was a student, they had been broken down on the side of the road when Dale had come upon them. That had been six weeks ago.

It was like nothing had happened and everyone’s life wasn’t overturned just for a little while, and it was good. They played and splashed each other as if it was a pool party in someone's yard, wouldn’t that have been a wonderful thing.

The night before she and Andrea had stayed up late talking, Lucy liked her, she really did. This was new to her, to have a real friendship with another woman. Nursing was cut throat, especially the ER, they ate their young and competed with each other over dumb shit and attention from doctors.

Lucy had been content to do her job, love on her patients and stay out of the drama. She had never had a girlfriend before.

//////////////////////////////////////

Later as she was drying her hair Rick walked by a few yards away and she called him over to ask a question. She had overheard him and Shane discussing with Merle weather they would move on soon and if so where.

They were conflicted, and Lucy had some ideas on the subject. She hadn’t given up on her plan to go to the CDC, maybe she could talk Rick and Shane into going, for that safety in numbers thing, or else she and Marylee would go alone.

“We were thinking the CDC too Rick, that's where we were heading actually.”

“Lori said you're a nurse, is that right?”

“Yeah,” Lucy answered, she had liked him immediately, he was a family man and was hell bent on keeping his wife and child safe, Lucy respected that.

“Good, we need you. There isn't one medical person in this group, we’ve got lawyers and cops, hunters and kids. I’m glad you're here Lucy.”

“I don’t know if we’re staying…”

“Fair enough, I hope you do.”

“If we don’t it's nothing personal, we have just always just had each other…”

“Yeah,” Merle Dixon was there now, “My brother and I felt the same too, but there’s safety in numbers, you can appreciate that can’t you.”

Lucy liked Merle, he was a smart man, even if he didn’t let people know right away. She had seen him reading her favorite book “To Kill A Mockingbird” that he had borrowed from Dale or maybe it was Glenn. Not that reading made a person smart or dumb, but the few conversations she had with the older of the Dixon brothers told her he was the former, not the latter.

She was still mad at Daryl for threatening her with his crossbow, and he had deserved the gun she gave back at him. He should have just left them alone, now she had choices to make and Lucy would have rather been left alone.

This group was what was best for Marylee, “I can Merle, I’m just not…”

“If it’s about my brother’s rude ass dont even give it a thought, his bark is way worse than his bite.”

What a curious choice of words? Daryl sure seemed like he would bite, the question was when he did what would she do. For a minute her heart sped up and she could hear her blood in her ears, but she composed herself fast because there was no room for that when she had Marylee to look after, and not with him.

“If I leave or stay it won't be based on that, don't worry,” She answered as she pushed thoughts of his younger brother from her mind.

“Just food for thought doll, my girl Andrea is so happy her sister has company now, and I heard you all had a blast swimming just before.”

Lucy smiled and Merle noticed that she had one dimple on her right cheek and one on her chin, she was odd in a good way. He was in agreement with Rick and Andrea, the sisters should stay.

“I’m definitely considering it.” Was all she could say because like it or not she was still shook by the thoughts her mind conjured up.

“We could really use your help Lucy,” Rick reminded, “But we don’t want to pressure you at all. I’m sure Marylee is doing plenty of that.” He laughed.

“Yeah she is.” Lucy answered and the two men took leave of her then, leaving her to brush and braid her hair to get it out of her way. This was a good place to be, there was no denying it. Lucy would suck it up and deal with what she had to deal with because her sister came first. 

She had promised her father that she would look after Marylee if anything crazy ever happened and it had happened didn’t it? A promise was a promise and she was mature enough to know that her own feelings were not the priority. 

A few yards away, over by the community fire pit Daryl sat cleaning his kill for the day and preparing to cook it. Her eyes moved over his form, which was not unappealing if she would be honest with herself.

But not in a million years would she do that, even if he did bite.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

He wasn’t creeping on her, he was just skinning his kill, but if he looked up, which he did a few times, he could see her doing her hair. He liked long hair, so shoot him. Actually she had almost shot him, Daryl grinned at the thought for just a second. He liked a girl with the balls to defend herself and the ones she loved. 

But he didn’t like her, she was hot, but he didn’t like her.

Merle and Rick were headed his way and they had blocked his view, but he didn’t let on that it had annoyed him. He had been trying to make out the tattoos she had on her arm and neck as she moved doing her hair.

Lucy was just a girl, and even though it had been a long time since he had female company this was not the time or place. If they weren’t careful they could be dead tomorrow, but maybe that was just the point.

Merle had said that maybe that fear should make you braver, maybe it was what should make you take a chance on things, because you could be dead tomorrow. He had certainly taken that to heart and gone after what he wanted. He got her too, as usual. Merle had no trouble with women and Daryl had nothing but trouble from them.

Lucy would be no different and that was why he didn’t like her, even though he hardly knew her. But she was his type unfortunately. Soon Glenn joined their little group and he and Lucy were laughing about something.

She was spending a lot of time with Glenn it seemed but Merle had said they knew each other before or something like that, it seemed platonic, not that he cared.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Glenn sat down on the picnic table next to Lucy and they watched the rest of the group going about their routines. It was almost dinner time and Marylee and Amy were helping Lori and Carol.

“Do you think my father was right?” Lucy asked him, “I keep thinking that this has to have been a mistake.”

“Your father would say no…” 

“I know, that’s why I think I need to go to the CDC and find out if something escaped from there or …”

“It’s not so much that we need to know why as it is that we have to find out how to live now. There’s no electricity, no modern conveniences.” Glen sighed.

“We were all so spoiled, carrying around cell phones and having everything we wanted whenever we wanted, this is a rude awakening.” Lucy agreed and lit a cigarette, offering him one which he declined.

“I really hope you and Marylee stay, I don’t like the idea of you both being out there alone.”

“Glenn,” She began, “It is comforting being with a group of people but I don’t know any of them and I…”

“You’ll get to know them, us. You’ll see that this is the best choice, and for the record I always agreed with Mitch. This was no accident.”

They sat there in silence for a bit, she liked Glenn, he was an honest person, and her father had liked him. Marylee had said that he and her father had a great time joking around whenever they saw each other.

Mitch would approve, she knew that.

“Ok so now we have a world without Ice Cream and I’m not here for it,” Glenn laughed.

“Me either,” Lucy took a drag off her cigarette. It was good to just sit and have a bitch session with someone. Being with someone who knew Mitch was a huge stroke of luck, it was a consideration. What would Mitch do?


	7. Seven

Lucy spent the next few mornings helping Shane and Glenn get water, and boiling it for use, Shane had a jeep which made it a million times easier than if they had to walk. It was still hot as hell though. Those chores had to be done before the heat of the day got too strong.

From their best estimation it was mid August, the dog days of summer. How they had all taken air conditioning for granted, and so many other things. This was a very primitive life, no cell phones, no Netflix, no Starbucks.

Luckily there were some people who were prepared for it in the group, others like Ed Peltiere were being carried along with the group’s work because he knew shit all about camping. Lucy had his number from the moment she saw him. He was a bully, and mean. The Dixon’s were just hard asses, but they weren’t mean, even when Daryl was being contrary with her, he was never mean.

One Morning, Lucy and Lori had a very wistful conversation about cold cafe americanos as they made perked coffee on a campfire. It turned out Lori had been a den mother for Car’s cub scout troop and knew her way around a campsite.

The group was varied for sure, it was good to have people to talk to, to run ideas by and she couldn’t deny that it was good to be part of something bigger than herself. Her talk with Glenn had made her feel more a part of the group too. He had used Mitch in an unfair way, but Lucy understood.

Marylee was happy here, maybe this could be a home base for them after all. Shane had told her about watching Atlanta burn just a few nights before the girls arrived and how shell shocked all of them had been. They were in survival mode, he said, and she wondered if he ever listened to Mitch, but she didn’t ask.

“Sooner or later we have to send a group into the city for supplies,” Shane had said as they lugged water up the hill to the jeep.

“I’ll go,” Lucy volunteered right away.

“Alright, we’re gonna need to do that soon so we should get a group together.” He answered, “Glenn here is a good go to town guy, you’ll go right?”

Glenn nodded, it was something he was good at, getting in and out of the various towns around them quick and painlessly.

“You guys have a good first aid kit here but there’s a few things I feel like we should get.” Then she added, “And I wanna look for some twizzlers.”

“Oh, you're staying then?” Glenn quipped.

“Zip it Mr. Rhee…” She said with a laugh as she wiped her face with the bottom of her Metallica shirt. She had just done her laundry and hung it up that morning, but here she was already sweating again. Now she understood why everyone always wanted to go swimming in the lake. 

When she had first heard about it she had scoffed that it was a waste of time, it wasn’t, it was vital to getting through the day.

///////////////////////////////

Lucy and Glenn had hit it off and spent a lot of time together around camp. He had made her feel welcome that first night and as the days went on their friendship grew. They sat together drinking coffee every morning now before the chores of the day started. 

“Oh, no I could never …”

“So you’ll wait for a girl to make the first move then?”

Glenn blushed wildly, “Pretty much, but it’s not like it matters anymore anyway. You’re the first girl my age to show up here, and I’m thrilled to have your company, but not that way and frankly Luce you scare me.”

Lucy laughed at that, he was not the first guy to say that to her and it was funny, he’d never seen her on the floor. When she was at work and in charge she was a force to be reckoned with. He would have died if he saw her at work in the ER. Lucy was used to ordering people around and making life and death decisions on the regular.

“You are not the first guy to say that and here’s to the brave girl who puts the moves on you first, may we meet her soon.”

“I hope she’s brunette…” Glenn remarked wistfully.

“I’m done with men. I have terrible taste in guys and always end up getting hurt” She stated and Glenn nodded, neither of them could think of the other that way; there was no spark between them anyway, one thing Lucy did know, you needed a spark. They had friend zoned each other within five minutes of meeting. 

“Can't blame you really,” Glenn agreed.

“There’s more important things to worry about now anyway,” She answered, then added, “I want a white pie so bad now.”

“That's insane,” He answered, “First of all it’s not even seven am and second...well it’s gross.”

“Pizza for breakfast, ever heard of it?”

“Oh god you sound like your Dad, the Illuminati, ever heard of it?” He roared. 

//////////////////////////////

“No, I hated the end of Lost.” Glenn said as they shucked some beans they had found on a farm nearby the next day. It had been a good haul, but it would be the last one, most vegetables were dying with no regular watering. It was a shame, but they planned to save some seeds and hopefully plant them the next year close by and haul water to keep the soil moist.

It was the best plan they had so far, they had to think of some way to sustain themselves for the long haul. Living one day at a time was fine but they had to prepare too. Winter would come, they needed better shelter.

“But Glenn, maybe we’re in Purgatory right now?”

“Thanks Lucy, I needed that to worry about along with everything else…”

“Don’t you two have anything better to talk about?” Daryl complained as he walked up, speaking of bad taste in men. He was not the type of guy she went for usually, now she found herself searching him out, just to know where he was. Maybe just because he always seemed to appear out of nowhere and she didn’t like that.

He was easy on the eyes, but not her type, she scolded herself silently.

Lucy had known he was approaching, since that first time he had been in the shadows that night she made it a point to be more aware of him and where he was. She couldn’t have him always sneaking up on her like that.

“Did you watch Lost Daryl?” Lucy asked.

“4-8-15-16-23-42. That answer your question, freckles?” He snarked, raising his eyes to meet hers as he scraped his dish in the garbage, then he stuck it in the wash bucket and was gone.

“I bet he shipped Kate and Sawyer,” Glenn joked.

“Yeah, fuck that.” Lucy laughed and they continued to shuck the beans. Daryl glared back at them and threw the door to his tent open. He could hear them taking still, useless chatter about TV shows and it was fucking annoying.

“I want a white pie so bad now.” Lucy reminded him.

“You say that every day.”

She shrugged, “I think about it every day.”

/////////////////////////////////////

Daryl laid in his tent on his cot with a nasty mood brewing and he couldn’t get comfortable. He was exhausted from lack of sleep but couldn’t quite figure out why he was so mad. He had a dream about Lucy the night before and had woken up in the middle of the night hard as a rock.

He couldn’t remember the dream though, he didn’t even know if it was a sex dream. All he knew was he woke up thinking of her with a tent in his pants. He was on the far side of thirty, more like pushing forty, why the hell was this happening now.

It was annoying as fuck he’d had to rub one out before he could get back to sleep and it was her fault. It wasn’t even that she was so beautiful he couldn’t resist or anything like that. She was pretty, that was all. She wasn't a fancy girl like Andrea was, Lucy wore jeans and t-shirts, mostly band shirts too, nothing special. 

But she had flaming red hair in the sunlight, freckles across the bridge of her nose, and green eyes. She also had many tattoos, thousands of dollars worth of ink on her, her skin was a tapestry of color and grey wash. For him that was apparently a lethal combination.

There was nothing special about her, and she was young, early twenties at best, there was no time for this bull shit but his dick had other ideas clearly.

The day before Shane had found an old CD in Dale’s RV and teased the man relentlessly about it. Daryl had been there and now he heard the music coming from the bean shucking area and Lucy singing alone with Joey Ramone to “Wonderful World.”

He covered his head with a pillow and tired to take a nap, now it seemed there was a party going on, in the middle of the day fuck his life.


	8. 8

“They want to fuck each other,” Amy said to Marylee matter of factly as they watched Lucy and Daryl disagreeing about something the next week. Just as Andrea had hoped, the two girls became fast friends and spent most days helping together around the camp, goofing off and generally being teenage girls. They were close in age and hit it off immediately. 

Everyone had chores to do and after their work was done the two girls would go swimming and people watch. So far they had figured out a strange three way thing going with the two cops and Lori. The three of them tiptoed around each other in a way that wasn’t completely obvious unless you were looking very closely. 

The guy named Ed used to beat his wife and daughter, and probably still would if there weren't so many eyes around. Dale treated Glenn like a son and insisted in teaching him everything there was to know about fixing engines, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It was an interesting mixture of people, that was for sure and great fun for the girls to speculate what was going on with everyone.

But Marylee loved watching Lucy the most. Her sister was not a people person, it was a wonder because she was such a good nurse. When she was caring for others she was a totally different entity, but in this group she interacted more than Marylee ever noticed before. Something had changed for her and in Marylee’s opinion it was a good thing.

She and Andrea were tight and it made Marylee happy for her sister, she had never had many friends, and had always been content with her nursing job and writing and nothing much else. She and Glenn hit it off right away too, Marylee was so glad he had been there. It was like having a part of their past still with them. 

Glenn equaled pizza which equaled Mitch and she missed her father so much.

Rick made a point of talking to them often, Marylee knew they wanted the one medical person to stay, and she wanted to stay. Lucy was also very friendly with Rick’s wife Lori as well. However, she didn’t get along with everyone.

Lucy and Daryl had fallen into a relationship fueled on bickering over everything. If he said the sky was blue she said it was green and if she said grass was green he said it wasn’t. It was entertaining for Merle, who had never seen his brother so animated with another person before.

He spoke to Andrea about it but she had said Lucy was closed mouthed about anything like that. 

The two girls were descaling and filleting fish that Andrea and Amy had caught that morning and watching the latest show unfold in front of them.

Marylee cringed, “I can’t think of my sister that way…”

“Neither could I until I accidentally saw my sister and Merle skinny dipping in the quarry a few weeks ago, there’s not enough eye bleach in the world to erase that image,” Amy rolled her eyes, “The end of the world happened but people still wanna get laid, maybe even more so now just to feel alive again.”

As the two younger girls watched, Daryl stomped off towards his and Merle’s tent and Lucy flipped him the bird as he walked away. Amy looked over at Marylee who laughed with her. Lucy was seething with anger, it radiated off of her in waves, Marylee couldn’t remember ever seeing her sister so riled up over someone before.

To Lucy he was so annoying and boisterous and being in his presence made her days much more stressful then they had to be. She turned in a huff and went to go find Carol to let her know that they were taking a run into town and did they need anything.

///////////////////////////////////////////

The camp was set up back from the road, Lucy had to hand it to this group, they were smart and had a good set up going on. Meeting up with them on the side of the road had not been a bad thing. Amy was just a few months older than Marylee and they took to each other right away; it was good to see Marylee acting like a kid again instead of being scared all the time.

Personalities aside she felt safe, even if there were a few annoying people in the group. She kept reminding herself that it was all about what was best for Marylee now. She would put up with whatever nonsense she had to from other people just to insure her sister's safety.

Daryl Dixon was rough and loud, just like his brother Merle, but everyone at camp had jobs to do and he was an amazing hunter. He never came back empty handed, and Lucy had to give him props for that, but it was reluctant, because he seemed to delight in getting under her skin. But he was gone for the moment Thank Christ.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When he came back later that day Daryl had tossed a dead squirrel on the table and told her to gut it and cook it. With a scowl that made it clear what she thought of him, Lucy had picked it back up and tossed it into a bucket that was by the side of the table. 

“You know how to cook this up don't ya?”

He didn’t even care or wait for her answer; he just kept walking down the path.

It was as if he just told her to make him a sandwich and she was enraged. Who did he think he was? Shane was willing to have her work side by side with him as an equal and this jerk came strutting by treating her like a servant.

“Cook it yourself Dixon, I’m not your slave.” She hollered.

“We’ll see princess,” He barked and that was what Marylee and Amy had observed on a daily basis. They snapped at each other constantly.

“Fuck you,” She called after him.

“No, fuck you…” He called back without looking over his shoulder as he headed down to the quarry to cool off in the water. It was hot as fuck out already and it seemed like it was just going to keep getting hotter throughout the day.

Amy and Marylee were picking berries down by the quarry when they heard rustling in the bushes a few yards away and Daryl continued down to the quarry. From where they stood they could see him headed to the water peeling off his shirt.

It was clear he meant to bathe in the quarry as it was usually quiet at this time of day as people were getting the evening meal ready. It wasn’t the first time he came down there at twilight alone, but Lucy had just started being comfortable with Marylee out of her sight.

“This is wrong,” Marylee muttered as they both stood there dumbfounded as he kicked off his boots and shucked off his jeans.

“I wish I had binoculars,” Amy sighed out, “Jesus Christ he’s beautiful.”

“My sister is an idiot…” Was all that Marylee could gulp out as she watched Daryl’s bare ass and mile wide shoulders making their way into the water.

//////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl swam in the cool blue water, grateful for the respite from the afternoon heat. It was refreshing and he had sorely needed it. He dunked his head under the crystalline lake and contemplated his situation. 

The end of the world had not really changed his way of life much. He and Merle had always kept to themselves, hunted for their food when they needed to and generally avoided other people. They hadn’t been bad people, in fact both of them were very empathetic to others, their childhood had been fucked up, but that’s what you got when you were raised by two drug addicts. 

But they had no use for fools and they were both rough around the edges. He hadn't expected Lucy to clean and gut the squirrel, he was just trying to get under her skin. She rubbed him the wrong way from the jump when she shoved that gun in his face; except it was so fucking hot too.

Now this new girl caught his eye on the regular, times were tough now that the apocalypse was upon them; something about her stirred him. Sometimes he just thought it was her hair, it was long and curly, all the way to her ass and he wanted to run his fingers through it like yesterday. 

Lucy wore it braided mostly, to keep it out of her way, but a time or two he had seen her brushing it. There was something so sexy about a woman with long hair in his mind and he had watched her more than he liked, his eyes were drawn to her more than he wanted.

Normally he would fall down on his knees and thank the lord above for sending a hot girl his way, but she was so contrary! Merle had already snapped up the blonde named Andrea, the other women were married and Daryl loved redheads anyway.

But that mouth! She was ornery in every way and he’d never been so annoyed by another person in all his life. He had all but run down to the water and dove in because she had riled him up so much and it wasn’t the first time either.

It was that heart shaped ass was what it was.

Suddenly he heard rustling in the leaves, a giggling sound and footsteps running up the path, he was way off his game. How had he not noticed someone in the woods? He was always so keen and aware of everything around him, she fucking distracted him now? 

That was unacceptable.


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is reading. This is a slow burn but the action is about to pick up like crazy now. xoxoxox Love you all!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to every one who is reading this. It’s the first slow burn I have ever written, but the pay off is coming up in the next few chapters. So hang in there!! xoxoxoxox Krissy

“What I wouldn't give for a dirty martini right now." Lucy said to Lori, who laughed for maybe the first time since all of this shit had happened as they all sat around the fire later that day. Andrea and Lori nodded in agreement, any kind of alcohol would have been nice, even if it was unwise, given the state of the world.

It was ok to reminisce about the old world though, and maybe they needed to talk about it to remember it had existed and what they all had lost. Making their way in this new world was fraught with danger and drama at every turn, sometimes you just needed a break.

“My face gets so red if I even touch alcohol,” Glenn replied.

“Good, next time we go to town I wanna find some Stoli and olives.” Lucy teased.

“I never had a martini before,” Glenn answered and that just gave Lucy a fit. She threw her head back and laughed at the thought of the two of them sipping martinis out of dainty glasses.

“Oh it’s on my friend.” Lucy replied as she lit a cigarette, “Somehow I’m getting us some.”

“Well, that’s a wise choice, chasing alcohol,” Daryl huffed as he stepped over a random bush and sat down on a log across from the women and next to Shane, "Pfffft. Martinis. That's a prissy girl drink anyway, don’t be making me no cosmo."

Next to Lucy, Andrea snickered as Merle put his arm around her. He could see what was going on, and he wasn’t mad about it. Daryl was obvious as fuck. Merle could always tell when his brother was into someone and he was into this one but good.

If only he could figure that out or just let it happen, he was so different Merle mused to himself. He always had been, but Merle could tell, she was into him too.

Shane chuckled, that man just wanted to poke the snake like a dummy. Clearly Lucy was not at all prissy and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She wasn’t Shane’s type but he could see that she was not what Daryl was saying.

"Please," Lucy took a long pull on her cigarette as her eyes followed him, assessing him in a way that made Daryl slightly on edge, "Do I look prissy?" 

He looked at her, just like he always looked at her, with her auburn hair and tattoos, no, she was not prissy. Lucy looked like a rock and roll groupie, like a girl who followed bands all over the country. She could easily have been a gig worker or a roadie in Daryl’s mind.

Glenn had talked to her a lot and had said she was a reporter for some online rock magazine as well as a nurse. It fit. No one would ever call her prissy, he didn’t know why he even said that. Except that he knew it would make her mad, and he’d get a reaction.

Lucy had told them all some of what happened on her journey from Pittsburgh to Georgia all alone. She had been through the ringer and prissy was not her. It was she who warned them all about other people out there with the every man for themselves attitude. She explained that was why she wanted no part of them at first.

She had seen some bad shit.

“I prefer whiskey,” Daryl stated as he lit his own cigarette.

There was silence from everyone there, Rick cleared his throat and got up for more firewood, joined by Carol, who’s husband was asleep in the tent again. That was good because it allowed Sophia and her a break. Something would have to give with that guy because he was talking about taking Carol and Sophia somewhere else if he didn’t like where the group was headed.

“I was always a white wine girl,” Carol giggled.

“Now that’s prissy,” Shane complimented and Carol smiled, she was a different person when her husband wasn’t around. It was good to see her happy.

Finally Daryl spoke, "Alright, I retract that comment."

"Thought so," She laughed.

“So,” Shane started, “Where are we going and what are we doing.”

Most of them wanted to go to the CDC but Shane had been in the military before he was a cop and he was in favor of Fort Benning, as was Merle. For once Lucy weighed in on a decision, Rick already knew she had been heading to the CDC herself before they had “rescued” her and Marylee.

“The CDC makes sense Shane, Merle, I know you both trust the military more than anyone. But even the military would be at the CDC protecting all the Ebola and shit.” 

“She’s right guys,” Glenn offered with a shrug, and he and Lucy had discussed this in detail, Glenn agreed with her.

Neither Shane or Merle spoke, and a slow grin came across Rick Grimes’ mouth. He had not thought of that, but Lucy did. 

“We should try and go soon,” She continued. “Within a few days.”

“That means you're staying?” Rick asked and Lucy nodded, now he was full on smiling and he gripped Lori’s hand. He wanted someone medical in the group, they had kids with them, a nurse was someone they would need and the two girls shouldn’t be alone in the world now either.

Daryl rolled his eyes, great just great, she was staying, fuck his life. He was never going to have a minute's peace again.

“You and Me Glenn and some Stolichnaya…” Lucy teased with a wink for Glenn. 

Merle leaned closer to Daryl and spoke low in his ear so no one could hear, “Jealous Much?”

“Fuck off,” Daryl hissed

///////////////////////////

The next day they pulled together Shane’s group to go looking for supplies. Lucy went, but not before warning Marylee with threats of death if she got into any trouble. Lori assured her that Marylee and Amy would be at her side the whole time.

She hated to leave her sister but there was also no way she would take her either, so Lori and Carol had agreed to keep all the kids together that day.

It was Shane, Merle, Andrea and Lucy that set out to hit a town not too far from where they were camping. It was like main Street USA and not too many dead ones around. They were mostly looking for water and medical supplies and they had come by Shane’s jeep.

The first store was a sporting goods store where they picked up some water canteens and filtering straws. As Merle and Lucy walked past the cash register they noticed a sign “Born to Fish, Forced to Work.”

“Well ain’t that the truth,” Merle mused as he stood there.

“Not any more…” Andrea quipped as she walked past them.

They loaded the car with as many supplies as they could from various stores, and a supermarket. Out of the blue as they all rested and Lucy stood leaning up against the car, something grabbed Lucy by the hair from the other side and pulled her over the car hood. Who knew the dead ones were so strong, this was fucking bad.

She screamed and couldn’t get to her knife but Shane was there to give the head shot and free her. He stabbed it in the head from the other side and it released her immediately Lucy slid down over the hood but landed on her feet, clearly shaken up.

“Thanks man,” She said to him and shoved her hand into her boot to get her knife, it went in her back pocket for the rest of the day. 

"Hey Luce," Merle called across the parking lot, "What's the matter. I thought you women like getting your hair pulled."

“Very funny Merle.” She laughed.

“You ok?” Shane asked and Lucy nodded, angry with herself for not paying close enough attention, you couldn’t just stand around without knowing your surroundings, she knew that.

“Opps I forgot my sex whips,” Merle cackled pointing to the adult book store, Andrea blushed a deep shade of red and then Lucy remembered something. 

“Be right back…” She let Andrea know she was going back into the grocery store.

“You need help?” Andrea asked after her as she ran back to the store.

“I'll just be a minute…” Then she was off and running, with her knife in her hand for protection, that was a lesson learned for sure.

“Where’s she goin now?” Merle asked and Andrea shrugged. He and Shane continued loading up the car. They had enough stuff now that they wouldn’t need to re scavenge before they left for the CDC.

They watched the doorway for some sign of her, but she wasn’t there. They waited and Merle was just about to go after her but then to their relief Lucy came running out a minute later with a basket filled with packs of twizzlers, two bottles of vodka, vermouth and a jar of olives. 

“Alright, y’all” Merle said as he got in the drivers side of the car and the rest of the group got in, “We’re off like a prom dress.”

Then he gunned the gas and they headed back to camp.


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I struggled and struggled with this chapter and then I got frustrated and just decided to post it. Let me know what you think :)

That night they all sat around the picnic table later than they usually did at night talking and as promised Lucy was making Martini’s for Glenn and anyone else who wanted one. Of course drinking alcohol when the world was coming to an end was either a really good idea or a really bad one. 

Sometimes though you just had to do something you normally wouldn’t do just because. It had been weeks of fear and always looking over their shoulders, surely one night would be fine. They were careful, and had sober people on watch and the kids were in the RV safe and sound playing board games.

Another of Dale’s CD’s played softly thanks to Andrea remembering to grab batteries on the run. It was a soft Stephen Kellog song. It was as if they were in someone’s backyard at a party and everyone needed this break.

*****I'm gonna start the day early  
Maybe like a rocket on fire  
Then I'm gonna write me a thousand songs  
And I am never, ever, ever gonna tire

You bring the cup and I'll bring the moonshine  
I wanna fill you up, babe won't you be mine?

I'm gonna knock em' all down  
Maybe till I can't see straight  
Then I'm gonna wake up at dawn  
And I'm gonna feel great.******

The younger kids were asleep and it was just the adults except for Ed who was sleeping off a stomach virus or some such thing. The point was he wanted no part of anyone there and never did, which suited everyone just fine. Carol was enjoying herself for a change knowing that Amy and Marylee had Sophia and Carl in the RV playing Sorry or Monopoly or something. Back in the day she had once played Dungeons and Dragons, Glenn and Shane had told her they did too.

It was a complicated game and if they ever got somewhere permanent she was going to find the game again and a rule book of course. It had been over twenty years since she had played there was a lot she couldn’t remember, but they wanted to teach the kids.

“Sorry I forgot the wine Carol.” Lucy apologized.

“Think nothing of it, these martini’s go down nice,” She replied with a grin, she hadn’t felt this relaxed since Ed was away on business in the winter last year. He could stay in the tent sulking everynight as far as she was concerned.

“But officer, I only had Ti martoonis,” Rick walked by to sit at the picnic table and laughed as Glenn sipped his drink carefully. He was not a drinker at all.

“They do go down real nice,” Glenn noted.

"Told you they were good Glenn…" Lucy laughed, this was a good time, a well deserved break from all the bullshit in this new life.

“What’s next quarter bounce?” Came from Daryl who was sitting in a camp chair avoiding everyone. He was obviously irritated by the whole thing and with her most of all. To Lucy he was a big buzzkill, but she knew how to fix that.

"Drink Daryl?" Lucy offered, tilting the battle his way, she couldn’t resist and maybe he’d loosen up after a few drinks, "How about a prissy martini?"

"Gimme a shot.” He countered, as he stood up and walked over, glaring at her. He stood before her as she poured and Lucy just grinned.

"Here ya go," She poured him a shot and slid it towards him.

"Do one with me." He motioned with his eyes to her with a challenge.

“Alright,” She accepted his dare, poured herself one too and met his eyes. For a brief minute something passed between them; an “Oh, it’s you.” moment. Both of them reacted, confused by it, shook their heads. But then it was gone just as quickly as it came.

“A toast?” He asked, trying to clear his mind of those thoughts.

“Sure,” She answered.

“To life, always biting me right in the ass.” He raised his glass with a quirk of lip, in a lopsided grin. The day he met her he knew it would bite him in the ass and it did, several times over now. He wasn't sorry though even if she was a huge pain in his ass.

There were the expected choruses of “At least that’s all that’s biting you” from almost everyone there. They were a little buzzed and it was fine.

“Ok then,” She raised her glass, “Nostrovia.”

“To good health,” Daryl answered and threw back his shot, then Lucy did the same. At the same time they put their shot glasses back down on the picnic table, assessing each other, it was thick in the air between them now.

“Another?” She tipped the bottle in his direction.

“You up for it?” Daryl challenged.

“I could drink you under the table on my worst day.”

“Good thing for you that’s a bad idea right now…” He answered slowly, looking her over as she poured them each another shot. He was actually loosening up a bit, the alcohol lubricated him just enough to forget that they were in hella danger every second of the day. 

“Even on your best day!” Lucy added with a grin as she raised her glass to him.

“I’ll hold you to it then.” Daryl said as he tapped her glass with his and they threw back their drinks.

“They didn’t call me ten drink Lucy for nothing,” She laughed and Daryl quirked his eyebrow at her again.

“Too bad this isn’t whiskey…” He purred, something in his voice had changed and she noticed it, was he flirting with her, more important was she flirting with him?

“Next time.” She answered and continued making drinks, “Glenn, are you ready for a refill?”

Glenn shook his head no, his face was red as a beat and he was well on his way to getting hammered.

“Ok, coming right up,” Lucy ignored him, he wasn’t on watch that night, Merle was and he wasn’t drinking, neither was Shane. So she made him another drink which Glenn accepted.

“No more after this, you got a heavy hand…” Glenn raised his glass to her, “But thank you.”

“A beer would be great right now,” Merle remarked from a chair with Andrea on his lap, “ A nice cold, cold beer.”

“Maybe one day,” Rick remarked, it was his goal to find them a safe place with walls, to have some sort of life. They couldn’t camp all winter, that was for sure, and they needed help and answers.

If they had walls maybe they could figure out how to get some comforts of the old world back, a place with solar panels would have been ideal, but the chances of finding something like that was not likely.

“From your lips to God's ears man,” Shane agreed, it would be time to go on watch with Merle soon. They discussed their next moves together on watch, planned supply runs and bounced different ideas off of each other,” You ready buddy?”

“Yup,” Merle kissed Andrea and patted her on the ass to stand up so he could go with Shane. They would walk the perimeter of the camp, and climb the ridge to make sure there was nothing on the road that led into the quarry.

Merle and Shane agreed on a lot of things and they were tight, this new world thrust people together that ordinarily wouldn’t have socialized at all. The Dixon brothers dealings with the law were long forgotten now, Shane and Rick were just people, just other survivors trying to make their way in the world. There was no animosity between them.

Everyone agreed and kept their fires low at night and didn’t make a lot of noise just in case, that was all that really mattered. They didn’t want the dead to hear them, or the living. The quarry was one road in and one road out, potentially they could get trapped if something meandered up the mountain that they couldn't handle.

That was another reason Rick wanted to leave soon, life on the road was not what he was looking forward to but he just didn’t think they were safe there.

“One for the road Daryl?” Lucy asked and he again got out of his chair, “Frankly I like you better with a couple of drinks in you.” She said quietly so no one else heard it but him, like a secret just between them.

“You don’t gotta be rude…”

“Just an observation,” She handed him another drink and they clicked them and threw them back.

“Fine, I like you better when I’m drunk and you're pouring my drinks too,” He laughed, “In fact the drunker I get, the more I like you.”.

“I’ve heard that line a million times when I was a bartender in nursing school,” She answered quickly because the conversation was teetering over into dangerous territory. Better to change the subject.

“Oh you have, have you?”

“Every night at last call…”

“It's true,” He answered with just a little drunk Daryl flirting going on.

“What’s true?”

“I like you better when I’m half lit.”

Lucy had nothing to say to that and everyone had heard it.

“You find any blue heaven out there on your run?” Daryl asked, trying to change the subject.

So he was a pothead; that tracked and could explain the reason he was always so serious and wound up. He self medicated, as many people did. They really didn’t know too much about each other. Maybe he had the same fears she had, felt the same pressure.

Lucy got that, this world made people carry way too much responsibility now; maybe she had misjudged him. Maybe tonight they had turned a corner and wouldn’t hate each other quite as much. Maybe this had broken the ice.

“You’ll be the first one I call…” Another, “Is it you? Are you the one?” moment as their eyes met, and it was gone again just as fast. It made the hair on Lucy’s arms stand on end. She wasn’t sure how to react, and she stammered as she poured them one more shot, “One more…”

“This is the last one, or I won’t be responsible for my actions…”

Glenn cleared his throat clearly uncomfortable with them going drink for drink and getting all honest. He had tried to talk to Lucy about Daryl a time or two and she had shut the conversation down in two seconds flat. But there was something going on, it was clear to everyone.

“Don’t worry, I’m not macking on your girl Glenn,” It was out of his mouth before he could stop it and Merle’s head turned so fast he almost got whiplash. Then Daryl realized what he’d said and no one said a word.

Fuck!

Then Glenn laughed, “Oh…but...she...” She likes you... was on the tip of his tongue, but he refrained from saying it.

“Alright, I’m out,” Daryl knew he had reached his limit, three drinks gave him just enough of a buzz but didn’t tip him over to acting like a dick. The situation as it was at the moment pissed him off and it was time to go. It had taken him years to figure that out about himself, drink enough for a buzz then stop. Five drinks had him acting like a fool over a woman, what the actual fuck.

He left before anyone could reply and Lucy just shrugged, he was a strange one sometimes. Daryl always existed on the perimeter of things, every once in a while he would join them, tonight had been one of those nights. He had opened the door a little bit and then slammed it shut again.

Lucy finally sat down next to Glenn along with Rick, Lori, and Carol, they talked long into the night about finding a place they could all live safely in. It was only a matter of time before this little slice of heaven they were living in would be discovered by something or someone.

They needed to be gone before that happened.


	11. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you read Blood Requiem you might recognize this trope. I loved it then and I love it now even more in this story. :)

The next day Lucy stood by the quarry lake in the early morning light. No one else was awake yet and she was pleased to have some time to herself. As she sat down at the edge overlooking the lake below she pondered their situation. It could be worse, much worse considering.

This was as good an idea as any, they were safe and part of something bigger than themselves. Marylee was safe, whatever that was anymore, and that was what she wanted most of all. A few weeks ago she had been overwhelmed at the idea of life on the road, now they had a community. For all of her outward bravado, she did have some fears, she had met some shady people on the way home from Pittsburgh; these were good people, even Daryl.

His bark was worse than his bite, just like Merle said and she was getting used to him and his ways. Maybe one day they could actually be friends. 

What was the saying, it wasn’t perfect but it was home. The night before had been fun, she felt like she was among friends. Those moments with Daryl had unsettled her though, it was part of the reason she was up so early.

There was more to him, and she tossed and turned all night thinking about what she had felt when she looked at him through her alcoholic haze. It wasn’t her imagination and he had felt it too.

The sun was just coming up when she heard something behind her. Months of being wound up like a top had Lucy up on her feet with her gun out and cocked before he came out of the brush. It was Daryl, in another of his cut off shirts, what a distraction that was, she had yet to see him with sleeves, not that she was complaining, quite the opposite. 

There was nothing wrong with looking, the man had arms, strong, firm arms or so she thought. He didn’t know what she was thinking but he had a scowl on his face that looked like it was frozen there. Maybe he was just as unsettled.

“Gettin tired of you always having a gun in my face, princess” Daryl snarked as he approached, “At ease princess.”

“Stop calling me that,,” She snapped back at him as she reset the safety and slid the pistol into the back of her jeans again. This was not how she had wanted to start her day.

“Shouldn’t be out here alone…” Daryl began.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Heard you trample by my tent like a bull in a china shop, like you do when you go jogging every morning,” He lit a cigarette and offered her one, which she took gratefully. Daryl was being civil and so she would be too, “You are not too graceful.”

Lucy huffed at the comment, as if any of that mattered at all now. But it was true, she was not graceful in any way and she didn’t care either. She snickered though, not insulted at all by what he said. Then realized that he had gotten up to see where she was going, he didn’t have to do that. It was kind of nice, endearing. He was so much more than what he let people see.

“Hungover,” He asked and she laughed softly as they both sat down.

“Little bit…” She motioned with her fingers,"You?"

"Nah, it was just a few shots, I’ve done way more damage to myself than that."

Then they were quiet again, lost in their own thoughts. He had flirted with her, and she had flirted back the night before. So now they would just pretend it was the alcohol, and that it never happened she supposed.

He knew she jogged every morning, what else did he know?

“Daryl,” She said after a few minutes of silence and smoking, looking at the sunrise. He knew enough to keep quiet and enjoy it, there were many layers to him she realised, and he was letting her see another one in the foggy morning light that day.

“Shhhh,” He said without looking at her.

“This is hard for me, so please just let me say it ok?”

“Yeah, ok fine,” He snapped back, she never fucking shut up. Couldn’t he stand here watching the sunrise without her yapping in his ear, Jesus. Fucking women! This was why he never bothered past a quick fuck when he needed it. But yet he had sought her out this morning on purpose, still thinking about the night before.

“Thank you, you did the right thing.” The words hung in the air for a minute between them like a lead balloon. She was thanking him? He never thought he’d see the day. Lucy had made it a point not to give him credit for anything.

Daryl shrugged, but a slight grin creased his lips, it was hard to hold it back. He liked to be right and he especially liked to be right with her. He absolutely loved that Lucy was admitting it to him, “I know.”

“Don’t get all full of yourself,” Lucy countered as she stood up, “ We were fine.”

“No you weren’t,” Daryl answered without hesitation.

“You couldn’t just let me have it could you?”

Daryl shook his head, “Nope.”

“Why do you gotta be that way?”

Daryl just shrugged, “You weren't safe.”

“We were fine, I had a plan and I was following it..”

“Maybe so, but you're still wrong.”

“Why can’t you just admit that we were fine.”

“You just thanked me for helping you!” Daryl griped, “You’re exasperating!”

Maybe she was hungover but Daryl was infuriating, she turned to stalk off in a dramatic huff to make her point just as the loose ground under her feet gave way. Lucy had been too near the edge and now she was sliding down the ravine before Daryl knew what happened.

It was slick like a mudslide, but quite a ways down, no trees in the way thank god. But he was still concerned she’d get hurt. She was not graceful at all and he chuckled to himself at the situation.

“Oh goddammit, Lucy!” He groaned and stepped off the ledge, allowing himself to go down the hill as well to go rescue her. Knowing she’d be pissed that he wanted to help her he still slid down just as she had, a second behind her to be sure she was ok.

Lucy landed on her back in the mud of the base of the lake, and it soaked her clothes through. She lay there like a dead slug erupting in laughter and then he landed right between her legs face first.

That just made her laugh more, and Daryl was mortified; her laugh was musical and it echoed off the canyon walls though and the sound was heaven. It made him feel good, too good, better than he had felt in months.

“It's not funny,” He growled as he tried to get off of her. He had to get off her fast, before he made an absolute ass out of himself but he kept slipping in the mud and falling back on top of her. Lucy kept laughing as he struggled and delighted in how flustered he was.

Daryl had never been that close to her, she smelled so good, and it felt... so good, his dick was awake and getting hard, goddammit. It was a goddamn nightmare.

“It is so fucking funny,” She laughed.

Fuck! He thought to himself fuck, fuck, fuck FUCK!

“What's wrong with you?” He bellowed.

“A lot,” She laughed again.

Then she was looking up at him with those big eyes, and her face was all wet and muddy, cute; so goddamn cute. Daryl watched a drop of water drip down over her cheek and his eyes followed as it made its way to her neck. He imagined briefly following that drop with his mouth and licking her neck, then sucking.

FUCK! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!

Daryl thought she would shove him off of her, and expected it. But she didn't and he couldn't stop looking at her; it was a frozen moment in time, when life was so difficult and neither of them moved.

Maybe this was a good idea. Sweet mother of Christ she felt good in his arms, she felt more than good under him, too good.

Lucy sighed at the feel of his weight on top of her, it was pure bliss and the look in his eyes was dark but so inviting. This wasn't a good idea and she didn’t care. Being in his arms this way made her heart skitter across her chest and she had to do something before she tore his clothes right off.

“It is so funny,” She laughed and swiped some mud across his face. You could have knocked Daryl over with a feather, he had not seen that coming and was dumbfounded for a minute, "Lighten up will you?"

“Really, I need to lighten up? I think it's you who needs to lighten the fuck up…" He teased her and she nodded.

“Ok, ok, you're right” She replied, and he was glad she finally agreed with him on something, then she did it again, this time with much more mud right on top of his head.

“Are you fucking crazy?” He asked but he was laughing, Daryl fucking Dixon was full on laughing.

“Little bit,” Lucy smiled, nodded and laughed again. It felt good just to be silly even if it was for a short time. He wasn’t mad, it looked like he was having fun too.

“Oh, yeah, Oh yeah, we’ll see who’s the crazy one, huh, huh?” Daryl slid his hand down and grabbed a handful of mud in retaliation and spread it all over her face.   
Now he was laughing too but soon his hands were on hers and he'd pinned her arms over her head. Then they were sideways thrashing in the mud and he was wiping it all over her face as she screamed, while holding her hands in place.

Lucy noticed he was laughing and smiling the entire time, it was something to see and she had never seen him like this. He was manhandling her, but Lucy didn’t object; it was like slow motion when he came eye to eye with her again. Daryl stared down at her and even though they were drenched the white hot fire inside of him over her that he'd tried so hard to put out was burning bright and was unquenchable. 

Then she moved against him just a little bit, still staring into his eyes and it felt so fucking good. Lucy could feel him hard against her leg and she parted her lips with a sigh. Her hands crept up over his back, her fingers danced over his shirt and his eyes darted from hers all around her face, finally settling on her lips.  
Without even being aware of it Daryl let his hands slide under her to pull her closer, positioning himself between her legs. 

OH FUCKKKKK

Before he knew what he was doing he was leaning down, entranced by her green eyes, were they always so bright? He loved girls with green eyes and he just wanted to give himself over to this girl.

Again Daryl shifted his weight between her legs, he was getting so hard and she knew it, but she didn’t push him off. Time stood still as neither of them moved, both of them were afraid to break the spell. 

His hands slid down over her ass, pulled her up against him and he was ready to go for it. Lucy closed her eyes waiting for his kiss...

“Uh, wait” Daryl came to his senses and finally spoke then rolled off of her before he made a fool of himself. She was too good to be treated this way, and he was pissed at himself for losing control, “We can’t do this.”

“Oh..oh...okay,” She didn’t know what else to say. It was like a punch in the gut.

After a beat, and as waves of crazy embarrassment flooded her being because he had stopped it, Lucy stood up, brushing the mud off of her legs. Blushing wildly she looked down at her feet; she couldn’t look at him.

“You didn’t have to try and rescue me, I was fine.” She quipped, determined to get the last word as she walked towards the path back to camp. After trying to get rid of the tent in his pants because now he was always looking to keep her out of trouble, Daryl followed her.


	12. 12

“What happened to you two?” Shane laughed as Daryl and Lucy showed up covered in mud and soaking wet, from the slip and slide ride they had just been on. By now the whole camp was up and running and everyone saw them coming out of the woods drenched and dirty. 

Lucy and Daryl just grumbled as they made their way back to their respective tents. Shane shrugged and went back to cutting wood and Daryl stomped off to change his clothes, he had to get out of there. He wasn't even going to clean up. He needed distance between them, he had to get away from her.

He meant to grab his crossbow and take off for as long as it took to get this out of his head, get her out of it. That had been a close call, he had almost let himself lose control, she deserved better and there was no room for that in this world anyway. He decided two things right away, no more drinking and no being alone with her. That was the only way to stay out of trouble. Lucy was trouble, plain and simple.

Shane just went back to what he was doing as Daryl stomped past Dale and Glenn who were duct taping a hose together to get the RV going again. Andrea and Carol had been hanging up laundry on the clothesline when Lucy darted past them with a silent wave headed for her tent to grab dry clothes.

Merle came up behind Andrea and asked her what the hell was going on but she just shrugged, no one knew.

Andrea was convinced that Lucy and Daryl belonged together, and she had seen them both coming up the path covered in mud. She had seen them going shot for shot the night before too. Hell, everyone had seen it. It was a wonder he didn’t pick her up caveman style and drag her back to his tent. Andrea wouldn’t have been surprised if he had.

Now something else had happened, they were both on edge after that, Lucy had slunk by like a thief and Daryl had changed clothes and run off to hunt. Lucy was upset and Andrea didn’t want her friend to be troubled. She had been observing the two of them for the last few weeks and their animosity was a poor excuse for desire, even if they couldn't see it.

Lucy stood in her tent trying to get a hold of her emotions. Last night if they had just had a few more drinks who knows what would have happened. It was well on it’s way before Daryl had walked away. Lucy was mortified, he walked away from her twice now, she would not give him a chance to do it again.

Marylee was just waking up and rolled over to see her standing there dripping wet.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, or I’m gonna be…”

“You sure? Did something happen, why are you wet?”

“Positive, don’t worry about me.” She leaned down and kissed her sisters cheek, “ Go back to sleep, I love you Mary bird…”

“I love you Lucy bean.”

After a while Lucy went back to the quarry to clean up and Andrea took the opportunity to speak with her there. She sat on the bank and kept watch as Lucy stripped and got in the water. They had become fast friends and Andrea had things on her mind, she wanted to help her friend.

“I haven’t known Merle and Daryl for very long, but they’re good guys.” Andrea began and she was as obvious as a lead balloon to Lucy.

Lucy knew where this was going. Andrea was trying to be a friend and she appreciated it. Working side by side with ER nurses for half her life taught her not to trust other women. But she wanted to trust Andrea, even if it was so difficult to wrap her head around.

“Andrea, I appreciate what you’re trying to say, I really, really do. But I'm not interested,” Lucy scooped some water up into her hand and splashed her face, it felt so good to be in the cool water.

“Lucy, you don’t have to be strong all the time, or keep everything inside,” Andrea reminded her, “I won’t ever let you down, and I expect the same from you. What happened?”

Lucy remained silent, she wanted a real friendship with Andrea. She had never really had the time or inclination to be friends with another woman before. Lucy decided to just be honest, she and Andrea were friends and friends told each other things right?

She didn’t even know how to be a friend, let alone ever have one before. But this was important, the world was different now, there weren’t any distractions and people actually had to talk to each other. In many ways that made life better, sweeter.

“I fell from that ridge there, well more like slid down but,” She pointed up at the slope that was like a mudslide, “We need to keep the kids away from that.”

“And he fell too?”

“Well, Daryl kind of just followed me, I think he was trying to help me,” Then she laughed, it had been funny as hell, and she had seen a side of him that no one had seen. He had actually been playful, he had laughed with her, been fun.

“What?” Andrea leaned closer, “What happened, tell me!”

“Nothing,” Lucy tried to suppress a grin, what had happened was funny, but how she felt after wasn’t, “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Lucy Blumfield, you spill this tea right now!” Andrea demanded.

“He landed on top of me ok?” Lucy answered, not giving her the details of where his face had landed, she was still embarrassed and didn’t know how she could live side by side with him now, “Are you happy now?”

"That's a sign from God, a big sign." Andrea mused, "And I'm sorry. You can't deny that he's hot."

Lucy rolled her eyes as she slipped off the rest of her dirty clothes and placed them on the bank next to her clean ones. 

"I bet he'd throw you around good." Andrea teased.

"Jesus Andrea," Lucy dunked her head underwater to get away from that thought. She had never been thrown around by a man in that way. It sounded...good.

“What? Don’t you miss sex, I know I did.” Andrea dipped her feet in the lake as Lucy treaded water.

“I haven’t really thought about it much lately…”

“But now you're thinking about it?” Andrea pressed.

Fuck, she didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to admit anything because he had stopped it. That stung, she had wanted him, and he acted like he wanted her, but then he had stopped it.

“He stopped it alright, Andrea,” She pointed to the mudslide and where they had both been just a little while ago, “Right over there in that mud puddle, we almost... and he stopped it. Clearly I misread something, he stopped it.”

Andrea looked over at the scene of the crime. She wasn’t surprised, Daryl was a southern man, with a southern man’s heart. But there wasn’t any way to explain it to Lucy, he wasn’t blowing her off, he was being respectful. Merle had been the same way at first with her too. Andrea had to pursue him before he believed that she wanted to be with him.

Daryl was the same way it looked like, to Andrea it was simple, they were attracted to each other, it was obvious to anyone who saw them interacting. But they were both being stubborn and idiots.

“He’s shy maybe,” Andrea mused.

“He’s not shy about the fact that he doesn’t like me very much, which is fine. I don’t like him either.”

“I think you like him just fine,” Andrea teased, then Lucy grabbed her by the foot and pulled her into the water and that was the end of the conversation.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl went out hunting and he didn’t return until the next day. Over his shoulders he carried a deer, but even all of the hard work, the hunting and manual labor couldn’t make him forget. The night before, in front of his fire, eating what he’d caught and cooked he thought about her green eyes.

He had longed to kiss her, had been so close to doing it. It was hard to forget, and her hair, he wanted to run his hands through it; he didn’t sleep well that night. Daryl tossed and turned all night with thoughts of her under him like she was that day.

He had been on top of her, out there in front of God and all the world to see, and he had almost let something happen that he knew was a bad idea. The problem was that at the time nothing seemed to be more of a good idea. She would have let him too, he could tell by the look in her eye. Thank Christ he had come to his senses in time and not fucked her in a mud puddle like a fucking animal.

A girl like her didn’t deserve to be rutted on in the dirt like that and he was angry at himself for letting it go too far. He couldn’t stop thinking about her lips now though and her mouth, her body.

Lucy was busy with Shane and Rick formulating some kind of plan to get to the CDC, when he walked by with the deer over his shoulders the next afternoon, he had been gone over 24 hours. Merle had assured everyone, and her, even though she hadn’t asked that Daryl often took off to think and hunt.

Merle had explained that they spent a lot of time in the woods as kids and that was Daryl’s way of coping with things, again he said it to Lucy even though she didn’t ask and she just shrugged her shoulders.

She wondered though, as children Daryl and Merle had clearly not had the upbringing she had. They had not been loved and cherished, that was clear. It made her sad for them, Mitch had been a wonderful father and their mother had been great too, not everyone was that fortunate. 

Merle said they were hunting for their dinner, literally all their lives. It must have been a sad existence, and it touched her. She felt bad for the little boy Daryl had once been and Merle too. It explained some things, but he would never want her pity, she knew that. 

When Daryl did return they didn’t even acknowledge each other, he just kept going to the spot where he would hang and dress the deer without giving her a second look. 

Lucy continued with her chores, fuck him, what had happened or almost happened with them was never going to happen again.

She didn’t care what Andrea had to say about it or what her thoughts were, she was wrong. Now she and Daryl weren’t talking anyway so it didn’t matter.


	13. 13

Lucy tossed and turned the entire night, between almost ripping Daryl’s clothes off and her conversation with Andrea; her anxiety was at an all time high. They had been just talking, that was all and Andrea meant well, but Lucy needed some klonopin or some blue heaven to mellow the fuck out. 

She was still so wound up at what happened. It had never happened to her before, not like that. She’d lived an ordinary life, with ordinary men in it. He was not ordinary, and he did not want her like that, she had completely misunderstood.

Blue heaven, Daryl’s weed of choice, it fucking figured. Lucy wondered, what was he like when he was high?. When she was high she wanted sex, and lots of it, but it had been a long time. She dreamed that they got high together and screwed and woke up in a cold sweat before the sun came up.

She laid there and replayed what had happened over and over again, she had made such a fool out of herself. She could barely look at him now without feeling like an idiot. She was glad he was avoiding her, it made it easier for her.

It had been funny when they both landed in the mud, he had shown her another side of him before that and during that; but then as if nothing happened it wasn’t fun at all. She had all but climbed him like a tree, and he had jumped off of her like his ass was on fire.

When Daryl drank and had enough he was even pleasant. It was hard to not think of him that way now. She had seen more sides to him and she liked what she saw sometimes. He was easy on the eyes too, even dirty and covered in mud, she had wanted him.

She rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head determined to go back to sleep.

Lucy dreamed about his hands, they were hard to miss, large, and rough from working for a living his whole life, and they felt so good on her for that brief time. She had never been touched with quite so much...she couldn’t even find the words. Determination? Passion? She could still feel his hands on her, she could still feel the way he had made her feel.

She had always dated professional men with clean hands, and never felt much of anything, now this man with dirt all over him was making her feel so many things. It had been electric between them, he must have felt it.

But she didn’t even like him very much, Andrea had said that didn’t really matter. The person who spinned your wheels, spinned your wheels and that was all there was to it. But there was no time for it, her sister would always need her protection, and she couldn't get distracted.

She got up early the next morning even though it was her turn to sleep in, Lori and Carol were taking care of breakfast that morning. A run would clear her head, she had pilfered sneakers on the last supply run, it was just what she needed. 

The sun was coming up and she stretched outside her tent contemplating her life now. Just months ago she had been living in a modern apartment with a high pressure job. Her sometimes boyfriend Brad was mediocre in the sack at best, but she thought she was happy.

Lucy didn’t even miss Brad, he had been infected, he died at the hospital before she ran from Pittsburgh. She was sad that he was dead, but there hadn’t really been anything there. She should have come home way before she did, that was her first mistake.

She ran down the dirt path, not planning to get too far away from camp, but far enough to clear her head. She had missed so much time in Marylee’s childhood, her sister had been a surprise baby, but greatly loved and wanted by their parents.

She had missed most of Marylee’s milestones, and many of her birthdays, first because she had been a busy high school kid and then off at college. She knew now that you could never get time back, she wished it hadn’t taken the end of the world for her to realize that.

Lucy had been too busy living her life, she longed to hear her father’s voice coming through the speakers of her car yelling about whatever conspiracy was afoot. She had always thought they would have more time. More time to visit, more phone calls, more rewatching Lost on Netflix, his favorite show; it had all been gone in an instant.

Whatever disease the government let out, they had no clue what it would do, that was clear. They couldn’t have wanted this and they had ruined absolutely everything.

Daryl watched from on top of the ridge with his crossbow over his shoulder wondering where the fuck she was going now. If she wasn’t back in ten minutes he’d follow her. Lucy would be easy to track, it wasn’t like she didn’t stick out like a sore thumb in her pink t- shirt and purple sneakers.

Plus wherever she ran she left a trail a mile wide.

He was not wrong, she was like a bull in a china shop, he could always find her or see her coming from a mile away.

She still didn’t understand that going off alone was not safe. From the minute he had seen her and Marylee they reminded him of Merle and himself when they were kids, all alone with no one to look out for them.

But she was reckless and he wasn’t in the mood.

He had been right, Karma had bit him in the ass for helping her, now he felt like he had to protect her, and she didn’t want that, she didn’t want anything to do with him now. How could she, he had practically attacked her. He was ashamed of himself and it was best to avoid her as much as he could.

Maybe one day she would forgive him.

////////////////////////////////////////////////

Lucy knew Daryl was watching her and she figured he was going to follow her again, and she suspected he had followed her down to the quarry that other day. Didn’t that just turn out great for both of them. She wanted to die of embarrassment for throwing herself at him like that. What had she been thinking?

There was nothing she could do to stop him from checking up on her and it wasn’t entirely bad either. She didn’t feel creeped out by it, but it was unnecessary, she was fine on her own.

She knew enough psychology to know you could not control other people and if he was hell bent on being her guardian so be it. He was good with that crossbow, she had seen that, but she was a good shot and good with her knife.

She did not need him.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Merle didn’t let on to the others, but he knew what had sent his brother into a tizzy the day before, not the exact circumstances, but he knew who it was about. There was no one there who couldn’t see what all the bickering was all about. Then there was the drunken flirting, and now they weren’t speaking but Daryl was still keeping eyes on her like he was her bodyguard.

Something was definitely up and he would find out eventually, Andrea wasn’t saying a word and he knew she was tight with Lucy, but he’d find out eventually.

"What are you waiting for, little brother? I’d bang her like a screen door in a hurricane if I was you," Merle said to him later that day as they were walking up the path to breakfast, which he could already smell. Lori had promised pancakes, but her kid had rolled his eyes and Rick and Shane snickered. 

Merle gave fuck all, he was hungry and it smelled delicious. 

"Hey watch your mouth!"

"Hmmm, just like I thought." Merle answered, “Better watch out for him.” He pointed to Glenn who was goofing around with Lucy at the picnic table. Over the past few weeks it seemed they had developed quite a friendship. It bothered him, and that made him angry.

“Just shut your yap, OK?”

“What’s the matter, she's too smart for you? You see how she derailed Shane with all that logic the other night? Just fuck her already, get it out of your system…” Merle announced like it was that simple, with Lucy it would never be that simple, or just about fucking, "The sexual energy between you two could charge that car battery over there. Brother."

Merle laughed as he pointed to the dead red Camaro that they had stripped for parts the previous week. Glenn had been so disappointed when they did that, but it was what it was. They needed the parts, not a sports car that would stick out like a sore thumb on the road.

Merle did have a point though, when Daryl just thought of Lucy his dick was wide awake, he hadn’t jerked off this much at night since he was fifteen, and that was a long time ago. He didn’t like it, but it was what it was.

“Besides, you all bicker like a married couple already, might as well get some for your trouble…” Merle laughed and Daryl just shook his head at the whole thing. 

It wasn't as simple for him as it was for his brother, it never had been.

“Also you love it, she pushes your buttons and you love it.”

“Yeah, fuck off ok,” Darly answered and lit a smoke.

“Sure, try and get through the day without getting into something with her then?” Merle challenged, “You can’t help yourself…”

“Fine,” He could take that challenge. It wasn’t the first time he and Merle had made a friendly wager, it wouldn’t be the last.

“Ok, fine.” Merle answered, knowing that was never going to happen.

“Fine.” Daryl growled and didn’t say another word.

Carl and Sophia ran past them on the dirt path on their way to breakfast, “Come on guys you’re gonna miss out.” Sophia called after them.

“Go on sweetie, we’ll be right there.” Daryl said and Merle observed how good he was with kids.

“Ever think of having kids brother?”

“What are you going on about?” 

“You and her would make some beautiful babies…” Merle said waving his hand towards Lucy, and that rubbed Daryl the wrong way and made his mood even worse.

“Just stop alright!” Daryl yelled and everyone at the campsite ahead turned to look at them including Lucy.

“Hey guys,” Merle waved, “Mornin.”

“Mornin,” Rick called to them as he sipped his coffee.


	14. 14

Lori and Carol had been up early to make the pancakes and Rick had declared that they didn’t suck. No one really got the reference except Carl, who started laughing and talking about how she always made pancakes on Sunday mornings, but that they were not good.

With Carol and Lucy’s help after her run the breakfast got off the ground and was a hit. Carol had some cinnamon/ sugar to put on top of them in a tupperware tub from home. That added so much flavor and that made them even better.

There was also a slight vanilla flavor, and no one was talking because they were too busy eating, once in a while a “These are great” or “Yummy” From the kids but that was it. The food was devoured and more was cooked, until everyone had enough.

Lucy had on cut off jeans and a Metallica shirt with her black boots and was getting tan from being outside all of the time, they all were. Up until that morning she had just worn jeans but it was so hot out she sliced the bottoms off with her knife and they were now knee length.

Her fashion sense was atrocious, but it had been that way before the world ended too, this was nothing new. Marylee had once tried to get her to wear a little blush and some false eyelashes, that had been a disaster, and hilarious at the same time. 

Daryl kept quiet for all of seven minutes, Merle had kept track, and elbowed Andrea when his brother spoke. He saw it coming a mile away, the minute Daryl saw her his mood changed. He was annoyed just by being near her.

“Ride the Lightning? Really?” Came out of Daryl’s mouth as he shoved a huge forkful of pancakes in his mouth. He didn’t even know why he said it, it was just to say something to her. He had to get his eyes off of her legs, and forget about how good she had felt in his arms.

“Oh, so you just got on the bandwagon after Load like everyone else then?” Lucy answered with a roll to her eyes that just rubbed him the wrong way, unaware that he was imagining her legs wrapped around his waist or neck.

“Nope, Master of Puppets, real headbanging music,” Daryl answered and Merle just gave him a look, and after their previous conversation Daryl shut up after that. Merle was wrong, he didn’t like pushing her buttons and he didn’t like when she pushed his.

“Well, S&M was the best anyway,” Merle added just to fan the flames a bit. Andrea just smiled, Merle could not resist stirring the pot. Also she learned another interesting thing about her man. He preferred the Metallica album that had a symphony orchestra with them, who knew?

Daryl dropped it after that, because it hadn’t even been half an hour since his conversation with Merle. He concentrated on eating after that and didn’t say another word to her or anyone else. Why did he always feel slightly off balance when she was there? He didn’t like it, one bit.

Rick was on his third cup of coffee by them and asked her what she did to it. Lucy was about to answer when Daryl spoke from the other side of the table where he was.

“Its vanilla extract…” Daryl said absentmindedly, “She put it in the pancakes too.”

It turned out that Lucy always added vanilla extract to everything, she always added it to her coffee and some foods; she actually had two bottles in her backpack from when she left Pittsburgh. She added it to the pancake mix and told Lori that coffee creamer also would work. It gave them a nice, almost decadent flavor along with Carol’s cinnamon and some powdered sugar.

“I didn’t know we were going to IHop today,” Shane declared, then added that he would always make sure she had the magic potion from now on and immediately put a few drops in his coffee as well, “Every run we go on I’m looking for vanilla extract from now on.”

Merle leaned into Daryl’s ear, “Might have to arm wrestle Walsh over there for her.”

“Shut up and eat,” Daryl hissed back.

It was hard to believe that they were eating this well, but when they took runs to town they had found boxes of pancake mix and Rick had grabbed it up. He had forgotten syrup though or maybe there just wasn’t any.

Marylee and Amy were still keeping track of all the interactions between the members of the group. This breakfast was very interesting indeed. Marylee leaned over to Amy and whispered in her ear.

“My father would have liked him, they're very much alike.”

“So then are you saying your sister is looking for a Daddy?” Amy giggled, “I mean he is a daddy …”

“Oh God, gross…gross Amy,” Marylee laughed.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After breakfast and making the men do the dishes because they cooked Lucy and Lori sat in beach chairs relaxing by the tents drinking coffee. Carol had taken the kids over to the picnic table to read, and Amy and Marylee had gone for a swim. Glenn, Dale, and Daryl were doing something to the blue truck and they could see them clearly.

Daryl always seemed to be sweaty and dirty and it appealed to her in a way that it had never done before, he was not her type. She didn’t go for the bad boy, dangerous, knock your socks off in bed type. She dated nice men, who were polite in bed, considerate, boring.

Something told her this man would never bore her, in or out of bed. The way he moved was so purposeful, and he had a lilt to his walk, a roll to his shoulders when he was angry. Lucy knew all of it just by watching him all these weeks.

Now Lucy’s eyes were drawn to the red rag he had dangling from his back pocket, he had a fine ass, that was for sure. Shane walked by and tipped his imaginary hat.

“...ladies.”

“Hey Shane,” Lori shaded her eyes and looked up at him. Something passed between the two of them and Lucy recognized it. She looked around to see if Rick was nearby and he wasn’t, thank God and then Shane was on his way. But it didn’t go unnoticed and this was why Lucy wanted nothing to do with men and one in particular. No matter how fine his ass was.

///////////////////////////////////

As Shane walked away, Lori murmured something that Lucy didn’t quite hear, “I made a huge mistake…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing,” She shook her head as Carol came to sit down next to them. The three of them watched Carl and Sophia playing frisbee, nearby Marylee and Amy were laying on a blanket sunbathing. 

It was quiet and they had vanilla coffee, what could be better on a nice sunny day.

“Are you ok with Shane and I teaching the kids Dungeons and Dragons at some point in this mess?”

“Sure.” Lori answered, “Wasn’t ever my thing but, I’m sure they’ll love it.”

“I hope someday we have time for them to learn it.” Lucy replied, tapping her foot in the dirt.

“You don’t ever sit still do you?” Carol asked, knowing full well she also had anxiety because of Ed, “Are you alright?”

“I used to take klonopin, but you know…” Her anxiety was starting to get worse, after the initial days of having nothing on her mind but survival, time on her hands let her mind wonder too much.

She was her father’s daughter and she wondered just what they were walking into by going to Atlanta, Rick had been there and said it was a shit show, he had met Glenn there and Glenn had brought him to the rest of the group, to his family. 

When everything went down he had been all alone in a hospital and Lori had been with Shane and Carl. Lucy would have liked to see how that reunion went, because she was pretty sure Lori and Shane had a previous dalliance and not too far in the past either. Not that it was her business, because it wasn’t nor would she judge a woman who thought her husband was dead.

“Did you look in the pharmacy when you guys went on that run?” Lori asked, pulling her from her thoughts. It was a new world now and everyone was just trying to cope the best way they could.

Lucy nodded, “Fresh out.”

“We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for you OK, when we’re on the road?” Carol replied.

“Thanks,” She answered, aware again that she was among friends, something she had never had before, not really, “Vanilla extract and klonopin…”

“I feel like it’s going to be a rough ride for a while,” Carol explained, “We’ll have to look out for each other.”

“Always,” Lori answered, “We’ll watch out for each other’s kids, and for Amy and Marylee too of course.”

Soon they were joined by Andrea who had caught a bunch of fish for their dinner that night, they were leaving soon and it was unspoken between everyone that food might not be so readily available. That was a scary thought, and winter was coming too. They all hoped like hell they would get the answers they needed at the CDC.

It was risky, but it was risky to stay in one place too. Everything was risky but there was also vanilla extract, so it was a good day. 

Eventually the other women went off to finish up some chores and Lucy needed to do the laundry but she sat there for just a few minutes lost in her thoughts.

Lucy continued to watch Daryl working on the RV, he had a water bottle that he drank from like in the old Pepsi commercial. She was mesmerized by the motion of his throat as he swallowed. Then, to make matters worse he poured it over his head and wiped his face with the rag. He was oblivious to her stare, and her gaping mouth and that was good.

It was OK to look, just never, ever touch. She was still contemplating his ass when Marylee plopped herself in a chair next to Lucy and pulled her right out of her thoughts.

“Does he remind you of Dad?” She asked Lucy.

“What?” Lucy was startled,, “No!”

“Maybe because of the cars? Dad worked on his own cars too, he never took them to a mechanic. I don’t know,” Marylee mused, “I mean he was also always a stubborn set in his ways southern man, Daryl seems like that too.”

Lucy shrugged, “Yeah I get that. I guess.”

"He's cute though," Marylee stated. 

"You're about as subtle as a rock to the face."

Marylee shrugged, "Well you're not getting any younger …"

"What's that supposed to mean, brat?!"

"Nothing, just saying." 

“Well, zip it!” She laughed.

“I’m not a kid and I have eyes, there aren’t many good things left in this world, we have to make the best of it.”

Lucy got up then, “I have laundry to do for the camp, and you’re drafted to help.”

“Great, just what I want to do, scrub sweat stains out of Shane’s shirts,” She rolled her eyes.

Lucy shrugged, “Clearly you have too much time on your hands.”

Marylee reluctantly got up and followed her down to where they did the laundry complaining the whole time about child labor laws.

“So call Andrea,” Lucy laughed and put her arm around her sister as they walked, “And don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

“I love you,” Marylee said.

“I love you too.”


	15. 15

Carol’s husband had made a mistake and the echo of it stayed with everyone long after it was over. It had been the first real issue that had come up, and it was a doozy. Things like this should not be happening when people were in a fight to stay alive but people like Ed courted bull shit on the regular.

The night before there had been a lot of noise coming from their tent, and in the morning both Carol and Sophia overslept. They never did that, and it was concerning to everyone. When they finally showed up later in the morning it was clear that something was wrong.

Both of them looked more haunted than usual and Carol was favoring her left hand as she poured coffee and almost spilled it on herself. Lucy glanced over at Daryl and Merle, who got up and went to talk to Shane and Rick.

A plan was being set into motion without any words spoken, Lucy glanced at the Dixons who then went to Rick and Shane, while Amy and Marylee kept Carl and Sophia busy. The little ones did not need to see what was going to go down.

Shane and Rick had been suspicious of him from the start, but they had seen some evidence as well. Carol had shown up with finger prints on her forearm more than once and now Sophia had a bruise on her thigh the size of a fist.

It was a fresh bruise as if the man, her father had punched her. Daryl was foaming at the mouth over it and no one blamed him. His and Merle’s childhood had been like that, their mother had died when they were both very young and their father had been a drunk.

Both of them bore the scars of their childhood, and how fucked up it was on their bodies and in their minds. Neither could abide it happening right under their noses, no one had ever helped them, but this was different, a woman and a little girl were in danger, that was clear to anyone.

The men were sick of Ed’s nasty attitude and the way he acted with his wife, his kid and other women. The women were ready to do a “Burning Bed’ on him, he needed to go, maybe for his own safety.

Furthermore, Merle was pissed off at the way he looked at Amy and if Lucy had caught him looking at Marylee that way she would have gutted him like a fish herself. Something needed to happen sooner rather than later. The whole situation was a ticking time bomb.

Now that they were talking of moving on rules had to be set, they couldn’t even get him to keep his fire low at night. He was nothing but trouble, and something had to be done before they moved on and were vulnerable on the road.

The rest of the day everyone watched Ed like a hawk.

When it happened it had been fast, he and Carol were arguing by their car and he had grabbed Sophia by her hair in a rage. Merle was not the man to be seeing that, since his life had been like that when he was the little girl’s age. 

He and Shane were on him in a second before anyone knew what had happened and then Daryl went running through the campsite to help his brother. For weeks they had suspected this was going on but this was the first time anyone had seen it.

Now there was proof, and now there could be action.

Carol backed up and held Sophia close, as they drove Ed away from the area. Merle, Shane and Daryl took him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him away from camp. It was all they could do to keep from pummeling him. It was three on one but he had it coming.

“We’ve had enough of this bullshit around here,” Shane advised as the three men pushed him down the road and out of earshot of the others.

“You're gonna pack some shit and take your car and go…” Merle added, “And you’re not gonna come back.”

“Fine!” He hollered, “Carol get that kid and pack your shit…”

Carol stood on the ridge with Sophia next to her and Daryl looked up her way and shook his head. Saying don’t go with him without even saying a word. She was joined by Lucy, Rick, and Lori, who took her hand. Lucy moved to the other side and took her other hand as Sophia cowered behind them.

“She’s not going with you!” Rick yelled as he made his way down to where the other men were, “And you are never coming back.”

“What are you banishing me Grimes?” Ed moved closer and Merle and Shane yanked him back as Daryl made his way up to Carol and Sophia, “You don’t tell me what to do!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Shane hollered in his ear, “You are not in charge here.”

“You going?” Daryl asked and Carol shook her head. His eyes went to Sophia who looked relieved and happy, he recognized in her what he had always felt as a child. It was comforting in a way to help her, even though there had been no help for him and Merle.

“No, Sophia and I are staying with you guys.” Carol said loud enough for Ed to hear, she was empowered, maybe for the first time in her life. She looked free already, changed in an instant.

“Alright Peltier looks like you just got a divorce.” Daryl yelled down and that enraged the other man. He broke away from Shane and started towards the ridge hell bent on kicking Daryl’s ass as Daryl started making his way down to confront him.

“Come on,” Daryl yelled, he was looking for a fight anyway, the off balance way he had been feeling could be resolved with his fists if need be. But some one beat him to it.

Shane was on Ed in a second and the beating he gave out was epic and deserved. But Carl and Sophia were right there watching the whole thing, Lori and Lucy tried to get them out of the way. But they wouldn’t budge. Shane just kept wailing and wailing on him, his aggression was startling, he was always so calm and controlled.

“Oh for God’s sake,” Andrea yelled as she watched the melee unfold, Daryl and Merle were down there now pulling Shane off the other man.

“I saw this coming a mile away,” Amy said to Marylee as they decided to go back to what they were doing which was a whole lot of nothing.

“Luce we’re going back,” She called over to her sister and Lucy acknowledged her. She and Amy headed away and soon the shit show was over.

“Carl, Sophia, go with the girls,” Lori pushed the two younger ones to follow the teens, “We’ll come get you when this is over.”

The men wasted no time getting Ed packed and on the road. He got an escort down the mountain, and when Shane and Rick got back they told everyone it was time to go. They didn’t even want to spend the night, but there was no way to pack up and be out of there by night time.

The men quickly devised a watch schedule for the rest of the day and night. Andrea and Lucy demanded to be put on watch as well. They were met with scoffs from almost all the men but Merle, finally it was decided that Glenn, Lucy and Andrea would be on watch first thing in the morning while they packed up camp.

Neither Lucy or Andrea liked the way they were dismissed and given the “easy” shift, but that was a fight for another day. No one had the strength to argue about anything, the events of the day were mentally exhausting. 

They all knew Ed was a douche, and no one missed him, or would ever miss him, but sending a man away alone was akin to a death sentence. That was a reality no one mentioned, but that would have to be revisited once they had time to breathe.

This was probably one of the first of many hard decisions that the group was going to have to make. This was a new world, with problems that reached back into the old world, and with new problems that no one had seen coming. 

Daryl walked to Lucy as soon as everything was over, “No more jogging by yourself Princess.”

“Stop calling me that!” She called to him but he was already walking away. She stood there with her hands on her hips as Andrea came up next to her.

“Guess he’s worried about you…” She said with a smile. Lucy turned to her and gave her a face that told her she was not amused, but they just laughed it off. It was too stressful to even get into it with each other, and there was too much going on now to be mad.

“Can you drop it?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t think so,” Andrea laughed and Lucy laughed then too, it was good to have a friend to share these things with, and someone to joke around with.

They would leave in the morning at first light.

////////////////////////////////////////////

It was doubtful Ed would come back and cause trouble, he had taken a huge beating and likely wouldn’t be looking for round two. But he had a grudge now and a man with a grudge could throw in with other people and cause damage to everything and everyone in his path. 

It was time to go. There were a lot of crazy people out there and he was just one more now.

Everyone started packing after lunch so they could just be gone in the morning. There was a cloud hanging over the camp now. A fear that something would happen if they didn’t get out of there soon was in the back of all their minds. This was not a world where you didn’t follow your gut, if something felt off it was off. 

Carol and Sophia seemed relieved beyond belief to be away from him finally. Lori made a point of reassuring Carol that they would all have their backs from now on and that they were all a family. The two women hugged and pledged to help each other as much as possible with their kids.

“Can we go swimming one last time?” Sophia asked and Lori looked back at Rick who was by the fire pit dumping water on it. He looked up and nodded, he didn’t have the heart to deny the kids this one bit of fun.

“I think we could all use that.” Lori replied and hugged the two children close to her. This might be the last time they got to actually be kids and have fun for a while. The long road to Atlanta stretched out in front of all of them and nobody really wanted to make that journey but they needed to.

The quarry had been a nice respite but now it was over.


	16. 16

Marylee was relentless on the subject of Daryl especially after it all went down with Ed. She had seen how he handled himself with others, not just when shit was hitting the fan. There was a determination to his step, a roll to his shoulders that was so sexy. When he was riled up it was like hell fire. Surely Lucy was aware of all that animal sexuality that oozed from him, especially when he was mad about something. He was a force to be reckoned with, and her sister was a dope.

As the day wore on and they all made plans and started to pack up; Lucy had no time for him or for thinking of him. They had successfully avoided each other mostly for a week or more and the next day was moving on day; there were bigger fish to fry.

"Are you blind Lucy, he's hot as fuck and he looks at you all the time when he thinks no one notices." She pestered as they were packing and cleaning out their tent to take it down the next day, “And you look at him.”

"Doesn't mean a thing Mary," Lucy assured her as she swept out the tent and shook out her sleeping bag. Now she hated to leave this place, it had been a nice break but circumstances now were changed.

To think she had not wanted to be here when they first arrived.

"Yeah ok. What I mean is he looks at you like he wants to eat you for dinner. Eat you... for dinner,” Mary repeated, in case Lucy hadn’t heard her the first time, Lucy rolled her eyes at her sister, “What? The end of the world came. Not the end of our libidos "

"Marylee!!!"

"Hey?" She laughed, "I'm not a kid anymore, I'm almost sixteen and I get it." She explained, “All that animosity...it’s scorching the way he snarls whenever you two are in the same space. Did you notice the little flit to his walk?”

Lucy had noticed, how could she not? But she wasn’t giving Marylee the satisfaction, “And Jesus Christ his shoulders, they’re like the eighth wonder of the world. He cuts the sleeves off his shirts on purpose, you know that right? He wants you, you mark my words.”

Lucy had to stifle a laugh at that one, Marylee thought she was grown up, as most girls her age did. This world would not let her be young anymore and that was a shame.

“Seriously Lucy, get it will ya?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.” She leaned her broom against the tent preparing to leave. There was so much to do and she needed to focus on what was important. Daryl’s shoulders, or arms or hands were not what was important.

///////////////////////////////

Won't you sing to me your poetry,  
Won't you take me to your home,  
Won't you be for me forever  
So I'll never be alone  
And just one thing  
If you're my queen  
Then it's a beautiful thing  
Yeah, reminding me  
Well I might be poor  
But summers free  
For me, I didn't know I was sleeping  
Beautiful Thing By Sister Hazel

The radio was on at the bank of the lake, and Dale sat next to it in a camp chair keeping the music going and insisting he wasn’t hot and didn’t want to swim. He just kept changing the CD’s when the time came and was content to be a spectator for the day.

The kids went for a last swim in the quarry and it was bittersweet, no one wanted to leave, but they knew they had to. Lucy would just swim in her cut off shorts and a black tank top because the apocalypse had happened and she didn’t bring a bathing suit for the occasion.

In a short time she and Marylee had found a place in the world. As they joined hands and ran towards the quarry to jump in the water it was hard to imagine that the world was what it was. Here at the camp they had been isolated from everything out there, their group had gotten some respite for a while. 

Lucy and Marylee were finally comfortable with the others, and it felt like life could go on somehow. The world was still a scary place, but it was scary with friends now.

No one trusted Ed not to come back one day for revenge and supplies were running short, there were things they needed to get, and answers they needed to find. They needed distance between him and them and fast.

The dead ones had not gotten up that far and no one was looking forward to getting on the road where things were so unsure, but it had to be done. They couldn’t live there forever without any answers, or be afraid that they would get cornered by a herd. They needed to know what the world was now, and more important what it was going to be.

Rick wanted to look for a place with walls and he had a point, no one argued with him on that either, walls would be better, safer. Once they got to the CDC and found out what was going on they were going to look for walls. Big tall walls.

Andrea met Merle and Daryl on the path to the lower quarry, below where Lucy and Daryl had slid into the mud, but still on a ridge over the lake, where Andrea and the kids jumped in sometimes. The sun was out and it was perfect for the last swim, they could hear the laughter of the younger kids. Amy and Marylee were squealing and Carol and Lori had blown up air mattresses with a compressor Shane had with him that ran on gas to float on.

Carl and Sophia were paddling around in Dale's boat acting like kids while Lori and Carol sat in lawn chairs with their feet in the water at the edge of the lake.

Daryl could see Lucy floating on one mattress in her wet clothes, her hand was hanging off the side in the water, and she was on her back. She looked like she was sleeping and so relaxed, he liked seeing her that way.

She had been all wound up when they first came back to camp and now she was acclimated, comfortable, Lucy hid that anxiety well, but he recognized it. She looked peaceful and calm, Daryl stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her but covered it up by getting a cigarette from behind his ear and lighting it.

The view was stunning to him, she was clothed and it was if she was in a string bikini, that was the effect on Daryl. He gulped at the sight, all of her leg and arm tattoos were evident as well as a large chest piece. They were mostly flowers in grey wash, and a few stars dusted on her chest. He could see one on her stomach too but it was only visible when she stretched.

“Ya girl is all inked up,” Merle noticed and teased Daryl like he did when they were kids. Merle had always given him shit, all their lives, but both of them would have taken a bullet for the other too.

“Not my girl. Merle.” Daryl answered with visible annoyance.

“Yeah alright, you just keep telling yourself that.” Merle replied and Daryl just ignored him.

“You got any tattoos Andrea?” Daryl asked to deflect and she shook her head with a sly grin, these two were something else with all the denial.

“Nope,” She answered, then mused, “It’s a shame to leave here.”

“It's not safe, I don’t trust that sonofabitch and neither does anyone else.” Merle wasn’t even happy about this swim thing but Dale, Shane and Rick were patrolling the perimeter and he, Glenn and Daryl would take care of keeping watch that night.

“I know, I know,” Andrea waved to Amy, “I’m glad Carol and Sophia stayed…”

“Me too,” Daryl answered as they came upon the bank of the lake, “They’re safe now from that motherfucker.”.

“Go get her brother,” Merle pointed to Lucy who was floating on the clear blue lake,” Tell her ya wanna take her for a ride on the Dixon great american scream machine.”

Andrea giggled at that but Daryl was not amused. From the lake Lucy screamed as Marylee and Amy tipped her over off the mat. Then Glenn tore into the water, dove in and when he came up to stand Lucy was on his shoulders and he held her legs as if it was nothing to him.

Daryl was instantly annoyed and threw down his cigarette, stomping on it in the sand. Then he stood there and watched as she stood up on his shoulders and Glenn held her ankles, then tipped her backwards into a flip in the water.

“She’s having fun without you…"

Daryl shrugged, “So what.” But she was laughing and he remembered how she had laughed with him when they fell in the mud, how it had made him feel and how it felt to hear her doing it with someone else.

"You better scoop her up before it's too late, that could be you throwing her around…"

"Shut up.. "

Daryl looked up and watched as Glenn picked her up and threw her across the lake wishing that it was him playing with her like that. If he ever thought of taking the time and playing in the water, which he did not.

Merle had other plans though and in one push Daryl was in mid air off the bank and into the water. He came up out of the water flipping Merle the bird.

“That wasn’t nice.” Andrea laughed.

“I know, but it was necessary,” He laughed as Daryl hoisted himself up on one of the air mattresses fully clothed and laid there in the sun, “The kid needs to lighten up.”

“He’s not a kid ya know, he’s a grown ass man.” Andrea reminded.

“He’ll always be my baby brother…” Merle replied as they walked the rest of the way down to the beach.

Daryl floated on the mattress amidst the kids playing with his eyes closed for a few minutes, then Lucy floated by and it was like he could feel her nearby. He opened his eyes to come face to face with her.

“Hey,” He said with his head turned towards her, as they floated side by side. Her face was wet again and he was mesmerized. Her hand dangled in the water again, close to his, if he reached just a little bit he could touch her fingers. He began to move his fingers closer to hers and they were just about to touch.

“Hey,” She smiled, but it was short lived as Marylee dumped her off her mattress and she in turn tipped Daryl off his. 

When he came up out of the water the second time he glanced over at Merle who was grinning from ear to ear. Andrea ran past him and dove in, then Merle followed until everyone was in the water for the last swim for a long time to come.


	17. 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the sweet reader who left me love about the frequent updates. This story is finished so it's easy to post often as opposed to writing on the fly which is my usual MO. Thank you to everyone who is reading. I'll try and update more this week. I have a bunch of double shifts coming up #nurselife

Well I'll follow you wherever  
When you lead me by my nose  
On another big adventure I suppose  
Then you lay me down in clover  
With their petals on my back  
I should make some time  
To do more things like that  
Won't you sing to me your poetry,  
Won't you take me to your home,  
Won't you be for me forever  
So I'll never be alone  
Beautiful Thing By Sister Hazel

The road to the CDC was fraught with problems right from the jump. They left at first light but it was like they were cursed. Shane’s jeep broke down, and had to be left on the side of the road. Lucy and Marylee were riding with Dale, Andrea and Amy in the RV. But then it broke down on the side of the road twice, and they had only gotten about six miles from the quarry.

As the men dug through the cache of spare parts, Lucy got tired of sitting around and waiting inside the RV and it was hot in there. She walked in between the cars carefully, making sure there were none of the dead around.

It was surreal to be on the once busy highway that was now empty, probably for the first time since its inception. They were down another vehicle, it was hot as hell out and Lucy wiped her face on her t-shirt and then tied it into a halter top to get some relief from the heat.

Carol and Lori were looting cars in the traffic jam they were stuck in and trying to keep all of the younger kids close while Dale, Glenn and Merle worked on the RV with more duct tape. They found some clothes which were useful, and a bunch of water bottles. If they had to be broken down they at least should be stocking up on supplies too.

Lucy was making her way through the line of cars, peeking in windows looking for things they could use and watching out for Marylee and Amy who were a few feet ahead of her.

“Hey,” Merle called out to her, “Luce you seen Andrea?”

“She’s resting still, she’s got…”

“I know,” Merle answered and tossed a bottle of Advil to her, “I found her these, maybe it will help.”

“I’ll bring them to her…” Lucy replied.

“Now what?” Daryl called over his shoulder from the front of the RV he had been digging through a tool box looking for a screwdriver to go start that RV.

“She has a migraine,” Lucy interrupted as she walked by and then turned, “It's none of your business.”

“Just asking a question,” Daryl shrugged but Lucy was going to pounce, it was too late. It was too hot out and she was tired and hungry for his bullshit today. He narrowed his eyes at her, but Rick called to him from across the highway and he gratefully left Merle and Lucy standing there.

Merle was amused and when Merle was amused, he loved to tell you about it. He laughed heartily at his brother and Lucy. This had been fun to watch and it just kept getting better and better. He had teased the shit out of Daryl and now it was her turn.

“You two have been circling each other like a couple O’ vulchers after a fresh kill ever since you both turned up covered in mud, even before that. Something happened, you can't fool me,and I saw you two making eyes at each other at the lake yesterday,” Merle laughed at her, “Why don’t you just give into it?”

“Give in to what Merle?” Lucy snapped, then immediately regretted that, she didn’t want to be on everyone’s shit list. She really liked Merle and wanted to keep things good with him, “Sorry…”

"It’s alright darlin, it's just that you really light up his dashboard, and he lights up yours," Merle cackled, “It's just foreplay Lucy, you mark my words on that.”

She gave him a “Yeah right” look but Merle just laughed again as she continued searching cars for medicine.

She found a few more bottles of Advil and some expired antibiotics, but it was something, so she brought them back and put them in her first aid kit. While she was bringing the stuff back for the first aid kit, she dropped the Advil and some Gatorade off to a very grateful Andrea.

///////////////////////////////

They needed a better look at how fat the pile up was so Lucy climbed up the hill on the side of the highway to see if she could tell anything from there.

After a while Lucy sat down on the ridge above the highway and lit a cigarette. From where she was she could see their group and she wanted to see how many cars were in the traffic jam and how far from the next exit they were. It was good to know all your options and they all wanted to make sure they had several backup plans if they couldn’t roll on into Atlanta on the main drag.

Once they got off this road they were on, they’d be almost to the road Rick rode the horse into the city on. He assured them that that road was clear for sure. It was just a few exits down according to Rick and Glenn.

She waved at Glenn and called to him to take care of Marylee for a few minutes while she looked around and he replied to be careful.

Below her Lucy could see for miles in all directions, and she was keeping an eye out for Ed. If he knew what was good for him he’d be gone but he wasn’t a very smart man. It would be just like him to try something stupid for revenge, Shane would kill him if he did that, it had been all they could do to get him off of Ed the other day.

Rick and Daryl were a couple of yards away and behind her was a river and bridge. It was an old country style bridge with a cover, and she wished she had her camera. At one time she had been good with a camera, and good with words, in her old life.

As the two men approached her Daryl made the universal sign for “give me a smoke” and she passed him her pack.

They had an odd relationship, and Rick wondered how one minute they could be at each other's throats and the next giving each other cigarettes. The three of them crossed the bridge that was over a long drop down to a flowing river.

“I’m going back,” Rick advised, and headed off the bridge and down the hill, “We’re gonna have to go up ahead and clear a lot of those cars away to get by.”

“I’ll be there in a second,” Daryl replied as he smoked, “I’ll help you.”

“Alright,” Rick answered and made his way down to the road where the rest of the group was on the other side of the bridge. Lucy and Daryl stayed behind to finish their cigarettes in silence. They could hear the water flowing from the river and it was almost peaceful. There was so much they wanted to say to each other and neither of them had any idea how to say it.

“Luce?”

“Yeah,” 

“I was thinking we could try…” He didn’t even know what he was going to ask her, it wasn’t like you could go on a date in the apocalypse. Not that he ever dated anyway, but he wanted...something with her. But he didn’t know how to ask her.

He couldn’t get the words out and all hell had broken loose anyway, making him forget right away what he was thinking anyway.

It happened so fast and afterward when they tried to piece it together no one remembered exactly how things had gone so wrong so fast. All they really knew is that a herd of the dead was on the road and in the woods and everywhere it seemed.

Daryl had seen them from a top the hill and Lucy dove down trying to get back to the road. But they were on the bridge, fifty of them at least, out of the blue. That was the only way back to the highway, where everyone was, where Marylee was. He followed her down to attempt to help her get across the bridge to the highway and it collapsed under the weight of the dead.

All he could hear was Lucy scream as she fell trying to get to the bridge. She landed on the bank of the river, as hundreds of the dead ended up in the water. They were still all over the highway and woods, she was putting herself in grave danger.

She had not made it to the bridge before it collapsed.

Thank God, he thought to himself, thank God she hadn’t been on the bridge when it fell. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. Daryl made his way down to her as she crawled towards the bank.

A few more minutes she would have been on the bridge when it collapsed and she would have been covered with the dead; they would have gotten her for sure, thank god they hadn’t. Thank god!

“Lucy get up here!” He yelled. But she got up and started running towards the bank and he knew what she meant to do. He ran after her, picking corpses off along the way with his crossbow. She was almost to the river.

“My sister is down there!” She yelled back.

Lucy tripped and face planted next to a dead animated corpse and rolled out of the way as Daryl stomped down on it’s head. As the bridge between them and the highway collapsed, there was no way back to the rest of their group.

“Marylee! Marylee!” She cried out and tried to climb down the embankment to get into the river and across, but Daryl grabbed her foot to stop her. She kicked her feet back trying to claw her way down through the dirt like she was fighting for her life.

“You can't get by that!” He yelled, “Quit it.”

“No, no, no no,” Lucy cried, and tears started rolling down her cheeks, “Marylee, Marylee, let go of me!”

Then she swung her fists at him, landing them all over him as he pulled her by the feet up the hill. Down below them Merle was ushering Marylee and the others away from the danger, but Lucy couldn’t tell from where she was. All she knew was that she had to get to her sister no matter what.

“Get the fuck off of me Daryl.” He still had her by the foot and was pulling her back up the hill as she screamed and screamed for her sister, “Let go of me!”

But he wouldn't let go of her no matter how hard she fought him as they watched their group scatter below them.


	18. 18

“We’ll meet at the CDC tomorrow or the next day,” Daryl yelled across the ridge where the bridge had washed out. Merle, Andrea, and the two girls waved them on as Daryl grabbed Lucy up off the ground like a sack of potatoes and ran before the herd got them.

They were everywhere and came from nowhere, down the ridge they were on the road too, Daryl could see everyone down there running out of the way too. Lucy screamed at him to put her down but he ignored her. Daryl out weighed her and was too strong for her to get away from. 

She was light in his arms, he didn’t know if she had hit her head, he would have to stop soon to make sure she was ok, but not now. If he put her down he knew she would try and bolt on him and end up getting killed. She wasn’t thinking so he had to do the thinking for both of them.

“Ok brother, we’ll wait for you there.” Merle hollered and turned to take a quick head count, Andrea, Amy, Marylee, “Ok girls lets roll out of here…”

Merle followed the rest of the group, the girls jumped in the RV driven by Dale who gunned it like he was on a drag strip and headed back to the main road. Merle got in the pickup truck and gunned it to catch up to them. Rick was ahead of them driving Carol’s Cherokee with Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia, but Shane was still on the side of the road. Merle came to a screeching stop next to him, and threw open the door.

“Get in man we gotta go!”

Shane threw three cases of water in the truck bed and hopped in with Merle, they stopped again and Glenn hopped into the truck bed. Everyone was accounted for now, except for Daryl and Lucy and Merle just prayed that they would find their way to the CDC.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They were going in the wrong direction, even upside down over Daryl’s shoulder she could tell that. Why was he going this way? She could make it across the river to Marylee, why was he carrying her away from her sister. She could see the dead ones behind them, in front of them, and all around them. It didn’t matter, she had to get to her sister.

It had started to rain and they were getting soaked, waterlogged, this was a nightmare. He carried her like that for miles it seemed to her, but it wasn’t nearly that far.

“Alright, alright, put me down already,” Lucy cried.

“Gotta keep you from trying to jump in the drink to get to them, it's too rough.”

“Goddamn you Daryl put me down!”

“Why are you always so fuckin rude!” He said with a lilt to his voice that showed he was just amused. If he didn’t want to put her down there was no way she could do anything about it.

“Put me down...please?”

Finally when they were far enough away for his liking Daryl put her down and held her by the shoulders, “We can't get through it, we’d get washed all the way to Florida, there’s too many geeks around, we gotta keep moving.”

Lucy looked behind her, the roar of the river could be heard in the distance and then back at him, he was right, between the river and the walking dead after them, they needed to get moving.

“Come on,” He pulled her along and reluctantly she went.

////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl and Lucy were completely separated from the group and ended up running through the woods being chased by the stragglers from the herd. Lucy was quick on her feet and by his side at all times when he needed her back up. Daryl did the same for her. Their personality differences were forgotten in the fight of their lives. One thing he did notice in the melee, she was not prissy at all. 

Lucy had no fear or problem dispatching with any dangerous thing they were faced with. She was a true partner and it blew him away.

“Listen to me, your sister is with Merle, he’ll guard her with his life.” Daryl explained as they walked down the road, “Please, you don’t worry at all.”

“Thanks Daryl I appreciate that, I know he won’t let anything happen to her.” She answered as they came upon an old gas station on the side of the road about a mile ahead. It looked like a good place to rest for a while, maybe for the night, “I just promised my dad I would always keep her safe and look after her.”

“I get it but you gotta just relax and trust...lighten up a little.”

“Look who’s talking,” She laughed, Daryl just changed the subject. It was easy to tell her to relax and not so easy for him. This was the first time they had ever talked and weren’t sniping at each other.

They walked in uncomfortable silence and for the first time in his life Daryl actually wanted to talk to a woman for more than five minutes.

“What did you do before this, were you always a nurse?” Daryl asked as they continued along the dirt road, “ I heard you wrote for Maiden Magazine?”

“I did for a while, but the editor wouldn’t stop hitting on me.” Lucy was uncomfortable with the topic and set to change the subject, thinking about Joshua was making her relive some dark times in her life, “What did you do?”

“Nothing much but odd jobs, mechanics mostly.”

“But you let Dale and Glenn do all the work on the cars…”

“The old guy needs to feel useful, and he needs someone to pass on his knowledge to. I think he was a school teacher before the turn.”

She was struck by how observant he was. She had not really given him credit for that, or for anything really except being obnoxious. Lucy knew now she had been wrong about him. When she thought he had a stick up his ass he had proven that wrong with their mud puddle fight. When she gave him no credit for caring about others he had shown her differently, he was a constant surprise to her, and an enigma.

“You have everyone all figured out don’t you?”

“Pretty much,” Daryl replied with a nod and a smile.

“So what about me?”

“You're easy?”

“Excuse me?” She raised her eyebrows as they sat down on the bench in front of the gas station. It was a relief to finally sit down and be relatively safe. It was still raining lightly, but they were soaked anyway, that was the least of their worries.

“No, no, not that way,” And she thought she saw him blush, “ I mean easy to figure out.”

“Please, enlighten me.” She asked as she lit her cigarette and passed the pack to him.

“You think you're tough, you wanna be tough,” He started, while he lit his cigarette wondering if she would get angry at what he said, “But you help people, you're tender hearted; my Mom was a nurse.”

“I’m sorry I was such a bitch on the side of the road, I was hot and hungry.”

“You don't gotta apologize to me…”

“Yes I do, I don’t want to fight with you, and I always own my shit and say I’m sorry when I’m wrong, and I was wrong.”

She stood up and put out her hand.

"Please, can we be friends now?"

“It's fine, we got off to a bad start is all,” He answered as he took her hand and stood up too. Even though it wasn’t the first time he had touched her, it felt different and their eyes met for just a second. He wasn’t feeling friendship towards her though, it was way more than that.

Lucy had stood up fast, aware that he wasn’t looking at her like a friend would and she felt something other than friendship for him. Glenn was definitely in the friend zone and that's what he wanted; he wasn’t looking for anything from her. They just liked each other's company. 

Her interactions with Glenn were easy because of that, this wasn’t; Daryl wasn’t friend zoned, not by a long shot...

“You helped me anyway…”

“I wouldn’t leave you to those dead things.”

“I know…” She looked around at where they were and realised she was exhausted, “Do you think this place is ok to stay overnight,” She asked, “I’ve had enough today.”

“Think so,” Daryl answered, “We need rest, been running for hours…”

“How are we ever going to find them?” Lucy sputtered, now feeling like she might cry, tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. She was so afraid of losing Marylee, of never seeing her again, of failing her and her father. Her emotions were starting to take over again and she couldn’t stop it, “Daryl I won’t ever forgive myself.”

“Merle’s got her and I got you,” He answered, “It's going to be fine.”

“We’ll find them tomorrow, you promise?”

“We will l promise,” Daryl reassured her and she threw herself into his arms. Clearly not used to that Daryl was taken aback, his hands fumbled as he tried to place them somewhere that didn’t make his cock hard. The last thing he needed was a repeat of the mud puddle debacle.

But her hands were coming around from his back and traveling up to rest on his cheeks and he didn’t know what to do. They were face to face, drenched again, eye to eye, and he struggled with what to do. It didn’t matter though, she was on her tiptoes then and her lips touched his.

“Lucy, I know you’re upset…” He started to say, afraid she was going to regret all of this.

“I’m fine,” She weaved her hands into his hair, “Are you fine?”

“Yes,” He answered and slid his hands around her waist to pull her closer and up off her feet just a little. That was a trick Merle had taught him, girls liked the fact that you could pick them up. Merle called it the ultimate panty dropper move.

He’d never used the trick before and had forgotten it really until just then, but it wasn’t necessarily why he did it. She felt good in his arms, he lifted her just a bit, just enough to put her on her tiptoes. That was all he needed to do and she sighed in contentment.

“Is this a bad idea though?”

“Probably, but I’m done caring about that.” He answered, staring into her eyes and enjoying her touch, “I’m fine as long as you are.”


	19. 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda long :)

“Nothings gonna hurt you, baby, as long as you're with me you'll be just fine. Nothings gonna hurt you, baby, nothing's gonna take you from my side.”   
Nothings Gonna Hurt You by Cigarettes After Sex

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Am I stepping on anyone's toes here?” Daryl asked as they took off their wet jackets inside the gas station after they had made sure it was safe. Both of them were soaked through, why did they always end up wet. At least this time the rain had washed the dirt off of them.

“What?” This surprised her, “ Like who?”

“Rhee?”

“Glenn and I are just friends, it’s possible for a guy and a girl to be friends ya know.” She laughed. 

Daryl considered her words for a minute, now was as good a time as any, before another bridge fell and he got cosmic cock blocked again.

“Alright but there’s just one problem with that, “ Daryl spoke before he could take it back, he had been ready to say it to her as they sat on the ridge earlier so he just let it out, as he stepped closer to her, “I don’t wanna be just your friend…”

"You don't?"

"No," He murmured.

Daryl shook his head slowly, never breaking eye contact with her then crashed his mouth down on hers, digging his hands into her long hair as his lips demanded response from her. Lucy gripped the back of his shirt and hung on, returning the kiss that she had not gotten the day in the mud.

It was worth the wait, a hundred times over and Lucy was swept away by him in a way she had never been before. The rain fell outside and there was a low mist on the ground setting an unforgettable mood.

This had been a long time coming and Daryl moaned like a bitch; he gave fuck all too. Now that he had his hands on her he couldn’t stop the raging passion that erupted. His tongue danced against her lips until she parted them, then he filled her mouth with it taking the kiss over completely. 

He couldn't ever remember being this desperate before, he hadn’t been laid in a long time, but he had gone without before, that was nothing new. It was her, it had to be, what was this? Because he had never been so drawn to another person like this before. 

This was the hottest first kiss Lucy had ever had. This man knew what he was doing, she had no doubt anyway, but this exceeded all her dreams or images. Daryl had a certain swagger, a lilt to his walk that both intimidated and entranced her. He carried himself with confidence, and it was more than evident by the way he was already seducing her.

Daryl Dixon took her breath away.

Her knees buckled under her and Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up and held her. Daryl adjusted her in his arms and Lucy’s legs went around his waist in the doorway as he leaned them up against the door jam. 

His strong arms held her without effort and Lucy's world was shaken, he wasn’t even her type, she had always dated stuffy professional men; clearly that was the problem. She had no fear like she always had about intimacy. All she cared about was getting as close as possible to him, all she wanted was to get him inside of her.

Once her back was against the doorway she pulled him against her by his belt loops. They both gasped in pleasure as his rock hard cock pressed against her and she swore she heard him growl like an animal. 

“That’s what I’m talking about,” He breathed out in between kisses.

They were all hands and grabbing at each other, his mouth was hot and wet against the skin of her neck, her nails raked down his back. Sucking hard on her collar bone Daryl smiled against her skin when she moaned out loud.

As her mouth started trying to form words, and her mind lost all coherent thought Lucy gripped his shoulders and held on for dear life. He did bite, in the best possible way. They went from 0-100 in two seconds.

“Mmmm….Daryl…” She didn’t even overthink it, or worry about her behavior like she usually did, no one had ever made her feel this way. She literally jumped into his arms, desperate for his touch, desperate to be closer to him.

“You have no idea baby,” He growled, as his lips made their way to her earlobe, leaving a hot, wet trail along her neck; then he caught it between his teeth. He tightened his grip on her as his mouth made his way back down her neck towards her breasts.

“Oh fuck,” Lucy moaned, “Oh my God…” She held onto his arms as he held her against to doorjamb rolling his hips against hers.

Their bodies never came apart, Daryl and Lucy just continued devouring each other as the sun started going down on the day that was suddenly ending up to be something neither of them expected when they woke up that morning.

She could feel his cock against her and she moaned out loud, every time he moved against her.

“You want that?” He growled into her ear, "Huh? Do you?"

“...yes..oh my God," Lucy breathed out, he was a shit talker and it made her crazy.

“Can’t hear you…” He made his way down her neck with his hot, wet mouth. 

“Yes! Yes!"

Daryl raked his teeth against her neck, "What do you want? Tell me."

"I want your cock inside me,” Lucy cried against his shoulder.

Their hands were everywhere on each others bodies, pulling at shirts and pants, the floodgates of desire were wide open now and nothing was stopping them. There was no one else around and he brazenly reached his hand up the front of her shirt.

"Oh, that's good," He purred into her ear. 

Daryl was on a mission now that it was on; he‘d waited a damn long time for her even though he hadn’t known it before. What was happening to them all these weeks, what both of them had denied and refused to give in to was real. What Merle and everyone saw happening to them and verbalized about was real, as real as he had ever known. She fit him like they were two pieces to a puzzle. The way their bodies moved against each other, the way her breast filled his hand, and the thrill of the heat of her breath in his ear, all of it had him looking for a place to lay her down and take her.

This was sweet desperation, he wanted her so much, the feelings rose up one after another, to make her his, possess her, to dominate and control her. He wanted to touch her everywhere, taste her and they started to sink down towards the floor.

Finally, Lucy thought to herself, I’ve wanted this, a man like this all my life. She felt desired, wanted and it was addicting. What had been missing in her life, from all of her relationships before was this, fireworks. She was his completely with just one kiss. She didn’t care either, normally she would have been all caught up in all the thoughts that went through women’s heads; she did not care about any of it.

Her body was on fire and she needed him as close as humanly possible. 

Outside a flock of birds took off screeching and Daryl stopped just short of sinking his teeth into her neck. Lucy’s hands were down the back of his pants traveling to the front and she stopped dead. It startled them both, like someone had dumped cold water on them, and he let her down reluctantly.

“We should…” He started, as he ran his hand through his hair, he was still wet from the rain and he was sweating from the heat between them. Fuck it was so hot between them, he hadn’t wanted to put her down.

“Yeah…” She answered, looking down at her feet, now it was hard to meet his eyes, they had almost fucked each other right there in the open door way. How could she ever face him now? It had been awkward before and they hadn’t even kissed, but now? No there was no way, she’d have to take Marylee and exile herself in shame. She had leaped into his arms from just one kiss, there was no excuse in her mind for that.

Daryl lit a cigarette and handed it to her giving her a slight smile as she accepted it gratefully. Then he lit one for himself but didn’t say anything right away, Lucy was dying inside. Where could they go that was better for Marylee then where they were now. Why hadn’t she just kept herself in check to keep them both safe; she was a fool.

This was the second time she had lost her shit and threw herself at him just because he got too close, she was so angry with herself.

“Got to check around a little if we’re gonna stay here tonight,” Daryl said as he took a long pull on his cigarette, “We gotta be safe, but we aren’t done here,” He motioned his hand between them. “With this.” He informed her as he picked up the cross bow and slung it over his shoulder.

“We aren’t?” Lucy gulped out. 

“No,” Daryl answered simply, “To be continued…later.”

“Thank God,” Slipped from Lucy’s lips before she knew what she was saying and that made both of them start laughing. It broke the ice just enough and they were off to batten down the hatches for the night.

.


	20. 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning. This is NSFW, graphic descriptions of sexual acts.

After they had checked and secured the gas station for the night, Daryl leaned against the wall and looked over at her next to him. It was almost full dark now, no stars out, they had found an old Sterno can and it lit the room slightly. It sat on a table in the office which had a couch and table and a case of water in the corner. It would do for the night.

"Come here sweet girl," Daryl whispered, taking her hand and guiding her closer to him. Lucy smiled, it was different between them all of the sudden. All the weeks of first fighting and then circling each other; what was it Merle said, “Like a couple of vulchers in heat?” Now he was looking at her in a way that made her light on fire.

He kissed her, pulling her body against his and wrapping his arms around her. As his lips slid against hers, she sighed and Daryl took the opportunity and pushed his tongue into her mouth. She moaned and electricity coursed through her, Daryl pulled her tighter, moving his body against hers. They fit perfectly together, his arms were hard around her, his form was firm, enveloping her, she was dizzy.

Lucy’s hands went for the buttons on his shirt, swiftly unbuttoning it so she could run her hands over his hard chest. His hands gripped her ass and he pressed his hips into her, giving her a feel of what he was offering.

“Jesus,” she sighed as the room tilted under her feet, this had not been what she was expecting. They always fought with each other, practically on the daily but this was good, so fucking hot.

His fingers slid over her waist band and his thumbs made little circles on her skin sweeping her away somewhere good and safe, at least for a while; he kissed her harder and harder, moaning in her mouth, then down her neck, nipping along the way. Daryl Dixon did indeed bite.

Forgotten was all the hostility they had recently; now they were stuck together in the gas station for the night and he was...charming. Who knew he could be that way? From the minute they met they were like fire and water, now they were feeling each other up in the dark. 

Daryl backed up leading to the couch, taking her down with him, and positioning her on his lap, while his hands went to her hips.

“You OK?” He asked and she nodded, “No, say it.”

“I’m OK,” She leaned over briefly touching her forehead to his, “I promise,” this time she kissed him, digging her hands into his hair, “We should have done this way before now.”

That made him laugh, “You think?”

The weight of her on top of him was delicious; all reason told him to stop this foolishness, that entanglements now were dangerous but he wanted her.

“This ain’t smart,” He began and she kissed him then, and nothing mattered but the two of them, once this started Lucy wasn't stopping for anything.  
“Nothing is smart anymore and I don’t care,” She murmured softly.

Daryl was a man, with a man’s sensibility, but he was weak for her and had been from the start. That was part of the reason he didn't like her he realised, he thought about her far too much. Now she was looking at him with her big green eyes, eyes that he could dive into and never want to come out. She got closer and before he knew it he was kissing her again, he liked her fine now.

Her lips were sweet and kissing her was all he imagined it to be and Daryl’s heart liked to beat out of his chest; he wanted more, so much more.

Before he knew it she was moving on his lap, and his hands were sliding up her sides, but he knew they needed to talk.

“You sure? Maybe we shouldn’t do this.” Daryl checked again, he was a dick sometimes but not about consent.

“I know you want to. I’m not wrong about that.” She pushed against him, he was hard and aching, she was not wrong about that, “I want to…”

“No, you ain't wrong,” He groaned at the sweet pressure she was creating, “It’s just been a long time.”

“For me too. But I want to.”

Daryl had always prided himself in his self-control but he was done. Done worrying and done dicking around. This time he kissed her the way he wanted to for so long it seemed and Lucy loved how demanding it was.

He kissed her like she was his property, pushing his tongue into her mouth and devouring her whole. His hands ended up on her hips and his fingers found their way under the back of her shirt and to her skin.

Lucy pulled her flowing shirt over her head and left her tank top on, then she was back to kissing him again.

“Touch me.” She whispered as she lay back on the couch beckoning him to her. He followed and had the feeling he’d follow her anywhere now. This was not going to be a casual fuck, he knew that, “I wont break…”

He settled between her legs and his kisses got hotter and hotter while her hands were traveling under his shirt, tentatively. Daryl moaned and it felt so good to be touched by a woman again. 

“This is OK?” Daryl breathed out, now not wanting to stop, but willing to if she wanted him to. He would never force anyone, that wasn’t him. He was a lot of things, a rough man for sure, but he wasn’t that.

“Yes.” She whispered, delighting in the feel of his heavy weight on her. “I want more.”

Lucy pressed herself against him again, with more deliberation, just to make sure he got the point as a horrifying thought took hold in his mind. He was fucked, and not getting fucked after all.

“I don’t have any…Oh goddammit!” He pressed his forehead to hers with a grin of regret, condoms had never crossed his mind, he never thought this was going to happen, “I didn’t think.”

“Oh.” Lucy didn’t understand, and then she did and she smiled. “Oh, I have the Norplant in my arm. It’s good for five years.”

“Oh thank Christ!” He kissed her again.

“You’re clean right?”

“Uh, yeah, ” He snarked, as if he was insulted she even asked. It didn’t last long and soon he was kissing her again and pulling his shirt over his head, then hers, wanting to feel her skin against his.

“Me too…”

His lips were on her neck in an instant, hot and wet and he felt her respond immediately, she moaned softly and dug her hands into his hair. This wasn’t what he was used to, doing the bare minimum just to hastily have sex with whoever he picked up for the night to just get off.

This was slow and life changing, and he wanted nothing more than to make her happy. Daryl touched her stomach and slid his hand under her shirt; Lucy purred like a cat and he knew he was on the right track.

Daryl brought his hand over her breast and she moaned softly, his expert fingers opened the front clasp of her bra and exposed her breasts, they were small and round and she was perfect. 

Thirsty for her, he wanted to kiss her there and he brought his lips to the side of her breast like a starving man begging for a meal. Slowly he brought his mouth to her nipple and licked while running his fingers over the other breast.

Lucy sucked in her breath sharply. “Oh fuck yes Daryl.” Smiling with his lips still there Daryl licked again and again as her hand would around his hair.

For all the experience he did have, he never had a woman this on fire for him and it was empowering. It might have been the greatest feeling in the world and he wasn’t stopping this for anything. He swirled his tongue around and around her nipple and repeated the same with his fingers on the other side as she started to become undone.

Lucy was running her hands over his back, and she was lost in the sensation he was creating; her eyes closed softly as her body gave itself over to him. He knew his way around a woman’s body, that was apparent.

Daryl kissed between her breasts and down towards her stomach. “You alright?” He asked again, reaching for her pants and opening the buttons. Consent was a big deal for him, he knew guys that didn’t ask, they just took. He also knew to ask more than once and as he went further with her.

“I’m fine, keep going.” She whispered. “Don’t stop.”

While she reassured him Daryl sat up and finished undoing her pants, pulled them down her thighs and off. She had on a pair of lacy red panties and he almost died right there.

“Where’d you get those?” He asked incredulously. Who the fuck wore that stuff in the apocalypse? Lucy did, that’s who.

Daryl brought his hand over to touch the lacy material as she pulled her bra over her head. The silk was smooth to touch and he realized he was into sexy underwear on women, who knew?

“I swiped them from that strip mall we were in last month.”

He smiled and brought his hands over her thigh then touched her through the material. “Ain’t you cute...”

After torturing her through the thin material a while Daryl slipped his fingers under the elastic of her panties and inside. He groaned out loud when he felt how wet she was, “Fuck that’s nice,” He reached for the waistband, carefully took them off her and stuck them in his back pocket like a dirty motherfucker.

“Hey!”

“I’ll give em back, don't worry.” He assured her, moving her legs apart with a wicked grin. By this time his dick was straining in his pants but he wasn’t done with her yet. He wanted to try something, something very different for him.

Daryl licked his lips and stared down at her, Lucy stared back and it was fire between them; he could feel her eyes boring into him. He watched her breathing, it was heavy and ragged, not unlike his own and he leaned down and kissed her knee, placing it against the back of the couch. Her other knee was resting on the couch seat proper as he licked his way up her thigh.

Lucy knew what he meant to do and when he looked up at her for permission she nodded her head.

Daryl wasted no time getting up close and personal between her legs, because really, once he had decided, he couldn’t wait. Alone in his tent, he had dared to imagine this and he licked her with the flat of his tongue like he wanted to since he first saw her. He was done denying it. He moved her knees apart more, looked down at his prize and did it again.

“Oh my God.” She breathed out, “Oh fuck yes!”

Lucy’s hips shot off the couch and she moved her legs apart further. Daryl was pleased with himself and whispered ‘Good girl’ against her skin as he felt her legs tremble. He hummed against her skin and held her in place with a hand over her stomach as he brought his tongue softly over her clit in waves.

"Oh fuck," She gripped the sides of the couch for dear life and that just spurred him on.

Daryl was going on instinct and her response, listening to her sighs as he slid his tongue everywhere, and all over her pussy. He alternated that with going back to suck her clit and fluttering his tongue over it, then away, and back again as he held her where he wanted her.

Lucy kept it together as best she could but couldn’t keep quiet when he opened his mouth wide and shoved his tongue inside of her.

“Ohfuckyes,” She cried out, “Oh my God!”

He stayed there, using his tongue and lips and her hands shot out and gripped the material of the couch again. Lucy thrashed and pushed herself closer to his face, and he delighted in doing this to her. It was his first time and wouldn’t be the last, because now he knew what all the fuss was and why women wanted this so much.  
Fuck, he wanted it, he had never been so turned on in his life and his dick was like a stone from the taste of her and the way she responded. He gripped her hips and held her against him, devouring her as she writhed on the couch.

Lucy was moaning softly and he knew she was trying to be quiet, he upped the ante by sliding one finger and then two inside her and alternating with tongue fucking her. Soon, Lucy could feel the pressure building and it came crashing down on her fast. 

She totally fell apart then and even though she was quiet it was an epic event. It was like she was possessed by a demon and her entire body reacted, trembling and writhing for what seemed like forever to him. He felt every bit of it as she came down from the wave.

Daryl stood up and he felt her eyes on him again, she sat up on her elbows, breathing heavily as he unbuckled his pants and the sound of his belt sent a chill through her whole body.

“Get those pants off now.” She demanded and her voice was hot like fire. He shucked off his jeans and watched her eyes get wide, it wasn't the first time a woman reacted to his perfect cock like that, “Jesus Christ, I think that’s gonna hurt.”

“Don't worry, I got you.” He replied in that hot gravelly voice that went right through her. “You sure.” He asked once more and she nodded immediately.

“Yes. I want it.” She pulled him closer and inside her.

“Oh fuck me.” He breathed out in a gasp. She felt so good around him, warm and wet and so fucking tight. “Fuck, oh God.”

Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him down for the hottest, dirtiest kiss he had ever had. She licked his lips and he filled her mouth with his tongue as he dominated her body with his.

Daryl slid his fingers down between her legs and circled her clit again the way he had done before. He watched himself going in and out of her and watched his hand moving between their bodies. Then his eyes traveled over her body and back to her face. Never a fan of eye contact during sex, now he couldn’t not look at her, he needed it.

“Daryl, I can’t…” She breathed out, “I can’t…”

“Yes you can…yes you can baby,” He whispered in her ear, along with some extremely dirty words that set her entire being on fire. “Come on sweetheart, give it to me, cum for me.”

The fuse was lit and it burned through her entire body until she was clinging to him, with sweat pouring over her face and tears running down her cheeks. He made her do what she was sure was impossible, and it was better than she could ever imagine.

“Oh fuck I’m cumming!” She slammed her hips against his harder and harder trying to get there.

"That's it baby give it to me, give it to me! Fuck me good Lucy!"

Daryl felt her body contracting around him and it was too much to bear, he let the feeling overtake him completely and came in a roar of curses and trembling that left him exhausted on top of her.

Lucy reached over and stroked his hair as they laid together on the couch, both lost in their own thoughts for a while. He had totally owned her in a way she didn’t even know she wanted.

“Ain’t never been with a nurse before…you're way above my pay grade.”

“I’m just a girl Daryl.” She said softly.

“How old are you anyway?”

“26, you?”

“38,” He answered, feeling like a dirty old man now.

Lucy picked up on it right away before he said anything more, “For an old man, you got some game.” She smiled, showing her dimples, which Daryl loved and he was entranced. He hugged her close and they lay together in silence a few more minutes. 

“Ain’t never done that before.” Daryl finally said quietly, pulling her closer to him on the couch so that they were pressed right up against each other.

“What? Sex?” If he was a beginner, she was certainly deprived in the past with other men. There was no way he was a virgin, no way in hell.

“No, I’ve done that, I’ve had sex. But this wasn’t that. This was an experience…almost spiritual.”

She looked up at him, her eyes were clear and sparkling, she felt it too, this unnamed thing between them. “I agree.”

“Ain’t never went down on anyone before.” He mumbled to himself.

“Sweet baby Jesus, Daryl, you coulda fooled me. I’m about to propose to you.” She laughed.

“It was too intimate, special, I guess to do with just anyone.” He replied with a shrug.

Lucy sat up a little. “But you wanted to do it with me, right?”

“Oh yeah I did, it was all I could think of, for weeks now.” He replied.

“Good.” She said kissing him again. “I feel honored.”

“This is dangerous; we could get each other killed.”

“No, we can protect each other, keep each other safe. Imagine what a team we could be?”

“You got under my skin Lucy, I didn’t want it,” He pulled her closer, ‘Now I won’t let you go.”

“Good.”


	21. 21

In all her dealings with Daryl Lucy now knew that she had gotten some things wrong, many things actually. For example, she never had him pegged as a cuddler, or one for pillow talk and he was both. The dirty talk she figured on and the wild sexual energy she was right about, but this was something she felt like only she would ever see. He kept a lot of himself locked away from everyone, but he allowed her to see the real him, or at least this part of him.

That had happened many times since they had met, she saw glimpses of the real him that he couldn’t hide from her. Maybe he wasn’t even aware that he relaxed those defenses around her, it was a romantic notion for sure. One that she wanted to be true with her whole heart. Lucy was a lot of things but at the end of the day she was like any other woman. She wanted to be special to someone.

After he pulled her on top of him and fucked her nice and slow that way the second time, they laid on the couch for hours, spooning, of all things and he talked her ear off. She wondered if he had ever had this experience with a woman before, clearly he knew how to fuck, but it was more than that.

Again he had told her as much in many different ways. 

Their conversation went from their tattoos; Daryl had three, Lucy had twelve, to their favorite foods; pizza for both of them, to what they missed most from the old world. Lucy missed music festivals and Daryl missed cold beer.

That night they learned so many little things about each other and the conversation between them just flowed. He was hesitant, but there was something important he needed her to know.

Daryl said that intimacy was not part of his life, and he had never given oral sex before. Had he always gotten up and left any woman he was with after the deed was done? It seemed so. Now he was clinging to her on a couch in the middle of nowhere with her underwear in his back pocket.

“We got off on the wrong foot...” He began, as he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist, “I liked you, still like you, and it felt strange. I never like anyone.”

“Not ever?” Lucy asked.

Daryl took a deep breath and just decided to be 100% honest with her, another first, to let someone know him that well. Merle had been the only person who knew him at all and this was so much more than that. It was like she had some power over him, and he couldn’t not tell her things. 

In the past weeks it had at first made him mad at himself for being weak and needing her. For his attraction to her that was immediate and different than anything he ever felt before. Their banter made him want her for his own, even if he didn’t want to face it at first.

Now they had both dropped their walls.

“Lucy, I've never had a girlfriend, I’ve never been with anyone more than one night, and I never stuck around to talk afterward.” He was cautious about spilling his guts, but he also couldn’t really stop it, he wanted her to know him and he wanted to know her. That was a first, women were for fucking, as long as they were willing, but she wanted to be friends.

He didn’t know just how badly he had needed that.

For the first time in his life he saw a woman as someone he wanted to talk to, her opinion on things mattered to him. He had said he didn’t want to be “just friends” but he longed for companionship with her specifically.

“Am I?”

“Different,” He answered right away, “You blow my mind, I can’t think when you’re around, it’s all just reaction, like walking a tightrope.”

“Yeah, I feel that way too,” Lucy murmured.

“You’re the first person I think about when I wake up, the last one I think about before I close my eyes.” Might as well tell her everything, he thought to himself, once the vault was open, he couldn’t stop the flow of thoughts that he wanted her to know about.

He didn’t tell her that on the nights she couldn’t sleep and would get up and wander around the camp, he always knew about it, he always knew where she was, from that first night. He suspected she knew about that, but she had never said anything about it. Daryl saw himself as her protector and she allowed him that.

“So this is for real?” She asked.

“As real as I’ve ever had…”

“It happened fast…”

“No it didn’t, it’s been happening for weeks,” He answered and that gave Lucy pause, he was right of course.

This had been happening between them since the first time they laid eyes on each other. The stress of the day had propelled them forward to act upon their emotions.

“I know you tried to talk me out of this, but I promise this isn't because I was upset…”

“We’re going to find them, don't you worry about that.”

“I know,” She pulled his arms tighter around her and they were quiet again. Which was fine but there was so much he wanted to know about her. He wanted to know about her life in Pittsburg, about nursing and what made her who she was. “Dixon you are in deep” he thought to himself. His fingers played with her hair, he was calm with her, at peace.

“What's your favorite book?” She asked.

“Watership Down.” He already knew hers, it was the same as Merle’s, “To Kill A Mockingbird.” He knew she was a Metallica and Misfits fan so he didn’t need to ask her favorite band.

Lucy remembered their brief conversation about Lost, her favorite show, one of the characters read it on the show, and he reminded her just a little of Sawyer, “Because of Lost?”

“Maybe…” He teased, “What’s your favorite disco song?”

“Boogie Fever,” She answered immediately with a laugh, “Yours?”

“Love train.” He replied, “You can learn a lot about someone by what their favorite disco song is…”

“So very true...did you ever swim in the Quarry where we were camped or go to the skate board park down the road.”

“Yup as a kid and teenager all the time, you?”

“I did, do you think we might have been there at the same time, maybe walked past each other and didn’t know it?”

“Maybe, I’m thirteen years older than you though…”

“Let it go,” She advised, aware that he had already mentioned their age difference. Obviously that really bothered him and it didn’t bother her at all. She was attracted to him and that was all that mattered.

“I’ll try, but it's one of the reasons I decided to stay away from you.” He had tried so hard too, but fate had other ideas, obviously.

“Reasons? Like you have a list…” She giggled.

“Yeah, wanna hear it?” And she nodded, “Ok, your age, your attitude, your loud mouth, The Misfits…”

“That's a pretty big list, but I have one too.”

He laughed, “I’m sure you do…”

“They’re similar except your age doesn’t bother me in the least, that mouth though?” She nodded, “Always been a problem.”

“Except about half an hour ago when my face was between your legs.” Daryl teased, “You didn’t have any problem that I recall.”

Lucy full on laughed then, “Right, except for then.”

She rolled over to face him so they could share a cigarette, and Daryl reached up on a shelf for his cigarettes and lighter. They smoked in the darkness and he promised her they would find Marylee and the others.

She believed him too, Daryl was a lot of things and one of them was a man of his word. They talked for a few more minutes and she settled back on the couch, with her head on his chest.

“Come on, lets get some sleep,” He pulled her close against him again and rested his chin on her shoulder. His hand went to her hair and he played with it, spinning it around on his finger absentmindedly, “We got a long few days ahead of us.”


	22. 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still not safe for work.

Daryl had never slept next to a woman before, it felt good and everything was so new to him. He could smell her hair and everytime she moved in his arms he was aware of it. Their limbs were entangled and her ass was against his dick; she must have been moving against him in her sleep because he was wide awake in a few hours with a hard on.

He woke her up even if it was the middle of the night, Lucy was not against it, she teased him though, "Three times?"

"Can't help it, you keep rubbing against me," He answered bashfully.

"I'm not complaining…" Lucy stated and wrapped her arms around him as Daryl rolled over on top of her kissing his way down her body. He wanted her again, and this time he was so filled with lust and with no reservations, which would be a deadly combination.

Usually he was long gone by now, he had never spent the night with a woman before and rarely saw the same one more than a few times. It just hadn't been in the cards for him, but then the world ended, and it was all different. 

He could only see himself with her now, she was all he wanted for as long as he was on this earth. It had bothered him at first but now he was smitten.

“Open your legs and keep them open, sweetheart,” He purred as he leaned down and ran his teeth over the top of her right breast, pausing to suck and leave another mark on her.

Lucy was surprised and delighted by the way he ran his mouth in the sack, it seemed that she didn’t mind him ordering her around when they were intimate. Yet it annoyed the hell out of her any other time.That was something to think over another time, now she was distracted.

As much as she hated to admit it, she had dick sickness now.  
He gazed down at her, letting his thumbs graze her nipples just for a second, “I'm gonna rock your world, so buckle up.”

He didn't give her a chance to answer before she felt his teeth on her thigh and his hands going lower. His hands were rough against her soft skin, but his touch was gentle, or just firm enough to make her go out of her mind.

Daryl nipped at her thigh and spread her legs wide, licking her skin and blowing hot air across it. Lucy moaned and flexed her legs, closing them slightly and he gripped the side of her ass.

“Don’t move unless I tell you to,” He instructed as he ran his tongue over her pussy like it was his day job.

Lucy slid down trying to get every bit of him, whatever he was giving wasn't enough, she needed more and struggled to get it.

Daryl licked at her flesh, all over her, driving her into oblivion with his tongue and fingers. 

Lucy moaned out loud, causing him to step it up more by concentration on her clit, making waves with his tongue against it as his hand slid up around her ribs to her breast and she was almost there. Lucy hovered at the cliff aching to fall over and he held her there, minute by minute, she was about to come apart and Daryl knew it too. 

With a wicked grin, he stopped enjoying her frustration and reveling in how heavy her breathing was because of what he was doing to her. He looked up at her and she was a panting mess, because of him and he loved that.

“Goddammit...” She groaned as he lifted her legs, hooking them under his arms and teased her entrance with the tip of his cock. 

Again she was about to cum and he prevented it. Lucy let out a sigh of frustration again and he smiled, this was going to be so good when he finally allowed her to cum and his dick ached just thinking about it.

“Get ready, here it comes,” Daryl announced and pushed inside of her without any more fanfare at all, his cock was thick and it burned just a little bit. The sensation of him stretching her hurt in the best way possible, just enough; she had never been filled up so perfectly before. As she felt him going in and out of her it burned deliciously, bringing her once again to the edge.

Daryl's head was about to explode, for all that bravado he usually had she was bringing him to his knees. Lucy was warm and tight around him and he groaned out loud from the pure bliss he felt. 

“Oh fuck yes!” Daryl growled and pushed harder and harder, “Who fucks you right Lucy, say it,” He demanded as he impaled her on his huge perfect cock, “Who fucks you right?”

“You do,” She gasped out and it was like a sob, “You do.”

“Only me,” He dug his fingers into her hips hard, leaving his handprints there, “Only me right?”

“Only you, Daryl!” She breathed out as sweat dripped all over her face, some from him above her and some her own, “You're the one! You fuck me right, you fuck me right!”

He slammed his hips into her and she met him thrust for thrust. She was gonna make him cum fast, she was so fucking tight, so he upped the ante bringing his hand down to stroke her clit where their bodies were joined, “Come on baby, come on, give it to me, cum on me, give it to me good!”

He wanted to feel her fall apart while he was inside of her, Lucy took every inch of him with each thrust the air was almost knocked out of her. Daryl pulled almost all the way out then pushed back in hard. 

“Oh god! Oh my God! Yes…” She screamed. 

He brought his lips down to her ear, “Say it!”

“More,” She cried.

“Say it again!” He demanded.

“More, please, more!”

“Fuck yes! Fuck! YES!”

She moved her hips against him and his slippery fingers had her out of her mind again in no time. He had mad skills, the things she had thought and assumed about him were right, more than right.

“Oh god Daryl,” She moaned, “Please don't stop, please don't stop, please don't stop.”

With a grin on his lips, he continued his dirty work, pausing to kiss her hard until she saw white behind her eyes and in that final moment her whole body contracted against his. The string of curses she let loose in the small room was almost shocking to him, but then, everything about her this night was shocking him.

In one movement he grabbed her by the hand and flipped her over onto her stomach, pulling her hips against his and laying a smack on her ass as he pushed inside her again  
.  
He was a good time, what was the saying, “I'm here for a good time not a long time?” That described this perfectly in her mind as the walls of her pussy trembled around him and he was a goner. Sex like this didn't come along every day, and both of them knew it by now.

“You got a dirty mouth I didn't know about,” He whispered into her ear as he watched himself moving in and out of her, “I fuckin love it.”

“Just for you,” She moaned.

“Oh fuck I'm gonna cum,” He pulled her back against his chest and the sweat from both of them was slippery, making him hold her tight as he unloaded inside of her, “Oh fuck yes!”

Exhausted and spent he collapsed on top of her and they both laid there catching their breath. The weight of his body on her back pushed her into the cushions and it felt...sweet.

“Jesus,” Daryl sighed, “That was…”

“Yeah…” She sighed out.

Daryl rolled off of her and lit a cigarette, Lucys stayed still and he turned to her and watched her breathing until it started to settle down. It took her a little while to pull herself back together, and he loved the effect he had on her. No woman had ever been so responsive to him before and it was empowering.

“You gonna make it?” He laughed.

She nodded and turned her head to him and he offered her a drag, placing the cigarette in her mouth, then Daryl laid on his back staring at the dirty ceiling above them.

“Ya sure?” He spoke with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, “We should have started this a long time ago.”

She pushed up on her forearms and took the cigarette from him and took a drag, “I didn’t want distractions...not even you, especially you.”

“Well, ain't that just what I like about you most of all, determination just like me.” Daryl said, taking another drag of the cigarette.

“It’s too late now,” She laughed, “I’m distracted…”

“Me too,” He sighed, “Me too.”


	23. 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some drama is coming :)

They set out on foot the next day to continue on their journey, because of the bridge being washed out, even though they had found a car they had to travel down the blocked road ways and back roads. That took longer than if the road was clear, and the two of them could only move blocking cars so fast. 

It was exhausting work, as everything was in this new world, but they worked as a team, side by side and they didn’t see any other people. That was how Daryl wanted to keep it, the less trouble they encountered the better. 

They stopped for the night in an old hotel on the side of the road before it got dark because Daryl was adamant that they not travel at night. He didn’t want headlights to let the whole world know where he and his girl were. Being apart from their large group never bothered him until now, he was never worried about himself. If he got jumped by a gang out on the road, well he would fight till the death.

But that was before Lucy. Now he had something to lose, it was a hefty burden but he had broad shoulders. He would be more careful now, because of her, to protect her, and to keep her with him.

Already he was attached and normally that would have sent him over the edge, but being with her settled him in a way he had never been settled before. It was unfamiliar to him, but something he was rapidly getting used to. It was something he had longed for all of his life and didn’t know it. He would die for her, without question.

There was an old rain barrel on the side of the building and they actually got to wash up a bit, they showered outside together with the hand pump apparatus connected to the barrel. Towels and soap from the hotel came in handy and in another life they could have been a couple on a vacation.

In the store next to the hotel they got clean clothes and some food. They talked and got to know each other more, discussing likes and dislikes without judgement. Lucy gave fuck all who he was or had been before the turn, she made him feel ten feet tall.

Just a few days ago they had been at each other’s throats, now it was as if they had always been together. They worked well as a team, and as lovers.

“Listen, I only like crunchy Cheetos…” Lucy revealed as they looked through the junk food aisle which was loaded with candy and chips. She had found regular ones but wasn’t interested in them.

She had a handful of slim jims though and a warm Fresca, some things would be there long after the apocalypse was over.

“You’re a psychopath, you know that?” Daryl remarked with a Twizzler dangling out of his mouth, it was sexy as fuck, just like when he dangled a cigarette the same way. There was something about his manner that was sensual, and a little dark, Lucy was charmed by him, in a way she had never been charmed by a man before.

“You’re calling me a psychopath? You?” She laughed, as she walked closer to him, “I don’t know Daryl are you sure about that?”

“Yup,” He answered as he chewed the licorice, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Do you wish to reconsider that?”

“No, I stand behind it.”

She laughed and continued looking for treats and anything they could find for dinner on the road. It was so easy between them now, she found herself smiling for no reason and looking at him with new eyes.

“Here,” Lucy turned and smiled as he tossed her a bag of the crunchy Cheetos she was looking for.

That night they made love in a bed in a cheesy honeymoon suite and Lucy woke up crying almost at dawn. Daryl woke up immediately after and held her, reassuring her as he pushed her hair out of her face.

“Merle’s got her,” He promised as he kissed her forehead, “We’ll be there tomorrow by noon at the latest.”

“Can we go now?” She asked, “Please?”

“Can't drive with lights on honey,” He explained, “Two more hours OK?”

Lucy shook her head, “No, I want to go now.” She started to get out of the bed, feeling guilty for being there with Daryl when her sister was out there without her. He was so paranoid about traveling at night and being exposed, but Lucy wasn’t thinking that way.

Daryl pulled her back, “We can't risk it, and they’ll wait till we get there.”

“I hate when you’re right…” Lucy sighed.

“Yeah well, get used to it.” He teased, trying to cheer her up and she smiled then, “Let’s try and sleep a little more.”

He helped her turn over then rubbed her back gently until she fell asleep.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The morning was uneventful, but hotter than hell, they walked along the highway when they couldn’t get past the blocked cars. At nine am they could finally see the Atlanta skyline coming into closer view. They would be there soon. They hoped Merle and the rest of the group had gotten there safe, but neither of them spoke it out loud.

It was about ten am and they had stopped to rest and look for a car to take because they were close to the main highway now. They could actually drive the rest of the way if they found a car that ran. The sun was beating down on them and they were exhausted. Lucy had not had a good night sleep since she was separated from Marylee.

As they walked by all the empty cars a hand reached out, grabbed Lucy’s ankle and yanked her down before she could do anything. All Daryl heard was her screech and then she was down

They thought it was a dead one, it wasn’t. Daryl had his crossbow out and on the man before he stood up with Lucy but to Daryl’s horror he had a gun to her head. This was his worst fear, in broad daylight.

Traveling in the day was as dangerous as traveling in the night.

“Hmmmm, what do we have here…” The man crooned, he was dirty and gross and he was hurting Lucy.

“Get your hands off of her,” Daryl growled as he raised his crossbow a fraction to make his point.

“Put that down or I’ll put a bullet in her head right now,” The man stated and yanked Lucy backwards against the side of the car. 

“Shoot him Daryl,” Lucy yelled, “Don’t worry about me, shoot this motherfucker.”

His hands shook for the first time ever. He’d always had such a steady stance, he was unshakable always, but his whole world was imploding before his eyes. The person who meant the most to him was in grave danger, it was what he had been most afraid of.

"Ain't got a clear shot Lucy," He stammered, “Might hit ya.”

"I don't give a fuck!! Shoot him!!!" Lucy yelled, “Shoot him.”

The stranger pawed at Lucy’s breasts and Daryl snarled, narrowing his eyes like an animal. He was prepared to fight for the death for her.

“Leave her alone before I put a bolt in your head.” Daryl warned.

“Put it down and I won't make you watch what I’m gonna do to her,” The man pulled Lucy’s hair and tried to lick her neck, and that infuriated her. While the guy was busy trying to feel her up, hold the gun, and her at the same time, she took her chance.

Stomping on his foot, Lucy ducked down as the man released her and Daryl shot the man right between the eyes. The relief he felt knowing that she was safe again was obvious in his demeanor and the breath he pulled in as he closed the distance between them.

“You ok?”

“Next time take the shot,” Lucy said simply as they began walking again, she didn’t let him hug her to show his relief and he knew she was right. He had let his heart overrule his head. This was also something he had been afraid of and a reason he didn’t want to become involved with her. But it was too late now, he was all in. Lucy was his whole world now and had been for some time.

Eventually, after another hour went by with no talking and when they were farther down the road Lucy let herself feel it and sobbed in his arms, “Next time take the shot.”

“I will,” He reassured her, although he wasn’t so sure he could keep that promise if he ever saw a gun to her head again. That moment had wrecked him in an instant and if it had turned out differently and she was hurt, it would be his own head he’d shoot with the bolt.

“They always said to beware of parked cars,” Lucy joked as they finally stepped on the clear road to Atlanta. They stood there for a minute and he took her hand. 

“It's an hour walk, maybe two, we’re almost there.”


	24. 24

The reunion with the rest of the group was not at the CDC but down the street, because the CDC was gone, blown up and gone. As they were filled in on the events that transpired during their separation Daryl lit a cigarette and shared it with Lucy, they had both talked about quitting or at least trying to cut down. It was one of so many things they talked about the past few days while they bared their souls and bodies to each other. 

That would be a heavy undertaking even if the world wasn’t ending, although Dale had said it was just “hitting the pause button.” The pause button was stuck as far as Lucy was concerned, maybe they needed this vise more than ever.

But Lucy had promised Marylee she would try and so she was just dragging Daryl along for company on that undertaking. Sharing cut down on how many cigarettes they both actually smoked so it was a start.

Now that they were all together again, she meant to keep her word on a lot of things. She had been absent for most of Marylee’s life, she couldn’t change that but she could do better.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl and Lucy sat together on the tailgate of Daryl’s truck sharing the smoke and listening to the experience their friends had just gone through. Shane was detailing it blow by blow, they had all gotten gourmet food, the finest liquor, and hot showers the night before last.

They had spent the night at the CDC, they had walls for the first time, and hot showers and food, but it had not been what it seemed. Rick’s walls were not meant to be there, even though at first he thought he had found what they were looking for.

At one point Rick and Shane had asked the man there, Jenner if they could stay but he wouldn’t answer. Lucy and Daryl listened intently, and shared nothing about what happened to them.

Finding their group again had put aside the drama of the morning for Lucy, and it seemed to have happened to someone else, not her. She had been angry with Daryl for not shooting that piece of shit right in the head from the jump. But then she understood, what if it had been Marylee and she was the helpless one. 

She didn’t like that Daryl had hesitated, and they would need to talk about that eventually, but not now. There could not be any hesitation, she would have to accept that if it had been Marylee, she could not hesitate, or if it was Daryl either.

Their friends had been through a traumatic experience as well, and it took a long time to get through the whole story.

The CDC had been a big bust, the only guy there had offered no information really, but had educated them a bit on how the disease progressed, not that it mattered. But it had mattered to him, the test subject film he showed them had been of his wife.

She had been the head of the CDC, a genius by the man’s word and he had called himself a janitor. But his isolation had driven him a little crazy, he had spent the whole outbreak and aftermath alone.

Jenner has lost it it seemed, and had locked them in during some kind of doomsday countdown. It made sense, and no one realized why they hadn’t thought about that. Of course, they would destroy the place after time had passed and there had been no cure or vaccine. The things that they kept there could not ever be released into the world.

Jenner had flipped a switch and they had barely gotten out with their lives. Rick thought he had just spent too much time alone, and was grieving so much, but it had been more than that. The man had lost all hope, and there was a built-in fail safe to get rid of all the nasty stuff the CDC had behind those locked doors.

Carol had blown them out of there with a grenade of all things? She saved Marylee and Lucy was beside herself with gratitude for the woman who saw herself as a burden. She jumped off the tailgate and ran to her.

“I told you, you aren't a burden, Carol, you saved everyone!” Lucy threw her arms around her. Lucy had not spent a whole lot of time with Carol, and she didn’t really think the woman had it in her to be such a bad ass, but she was so wrong.

That had been the day before, the exhausted group had then gone to an office building down the road to spend the night as they waited for Daryl and Lucy. The next day they were outside in the scorching heat all day not too far from the still smoking building and finally around three PM the pair arrived. There was a lot to tell, the first thing Lucy looked for was Marylee and after they had run to each other and hugged, then she noticed the blown up building.

Glenn practically swung her around when he got to her and ordinarily that would have rubbed Daryl the wrong way, but he got it now. What he and Lucy had and what she and Glenn had were two different things. It had been clear all along but he had not been able to process it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“I see you two worked out your differences?” Merle cackled as he and Daryl sat on the tail gate of the truck later that night. Daryl’s eyes were on Lucy, as always, who was with Marylee having their reunion a few feet away and it made his heart light until Merle spoke.

He had been watching the two sisters with their heads together talking softly with a smile on his face a mile wide. He had kept his promise, they were together again, he had not let Lucy down. The past few days had changed him profoundly, it was clear to anyone who looked at him.

“What makes you say that?” Daryl bristled at how intuitive Merle was. Nothing was ever sacred with him and Daryl never got to keep something to himself.

“You’re sharing cigarettes with her now, which tells me that your dick has been inside her…” Merle advised.

“That’s powerful logic there Merle.”

"You got a little love bite right there too," He touched the side of Daryl's neck, "…you finally got your pipes cleaned,” Merle laughed, “Good for you, maybe you’ll be more pleasant to be around.”

“Hff,” Daryl huffed with a laugh, “I doubt it.”

“You’re smiling like a fool, that’s a start.”

“Whatever, what’s the plan now,” Daryl asked.

“Think tomorrow we’re gonna try and grab up anything we can from the city and move on…”

“To what?”

“No clue brother, no clue.”

//////////////////////////////

Lucy wanted to sleep with Marylee and Daryl got that, he really did, but he had gotten used to her body next to him the past two nights. Not to mention all the sex they’d had and how good he slept afterwards. He had not slept that hard and well in years. Lucy was like a sleeping pill.

Now he was like a drug addict jonesing for a fix, and he wasn’t happy about it. In two nights she had drawn so much out of him with such little effort. It was unnerving. What now he wouldn’t be able to sleep unless she was there?

She was still close to him, just a few feet away but it was too far. The office building was large and the room they had all chosen had none of the intimacy of the gas station and the hotel he had stayed in with Lucy.

Daryl lay awake a good part of the night, he didn’t want to need her to fall asleep, he didn’t want to be so vulnerable that he couldn’t pull the trigger on an enemy for fear of hurting her. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he had fucked up and almost got her killed, or worse. That man had meant to rape her, it had been apparent and it turned his stomach every time he thought of it.

He had almost failed her and he had no one to blame but himself.

“Next time take the shot,” She had said, he looked over at her sleeping and wondered if he ever could. He never froze or hesitated before, this was not good. Shane was on watch and finally around four am Daryl got up and joined Shane outside. They passed the night with small talk, and neither of them mentioned the women in their lives.

“I missed you last night…” Lucy whispered in his ear as they were getting ready to leave, but Daryl just shrugged and kept walking. Every cell in his body wanted to hold her but this was better, this would keep her safe. If he couldn’t control his emotions when she was in danger next time she would be dead or worse.

He didn’t want to do this but he had to, it was what was best for her.

Lucy watched Daryl walk away, her eyes drawn to that red rag in his pocket as always; he was frosty to her now, it was coming off on him in waves. One step forwards two steps back it seemed, this was the way it was with him. She should have expected as much, but it hurt so goddamn much. She also wasn’t interested in doing this dance with him either, she thought all of that was over with.

Lucy was not down for his bullshit so she just let him go, it was too good to be true and she should have known better. Past experience had taught her this, but she thought he was different and she had trusted him. Now she was sorry about all of it.

They were on their way by nine am, after gathering supplies, then it was on the road to Fort Benning, hoping against hope that someone with answers was there.

She didn’t have time for this man drama.


	25. 25

Lucy didn’t catch up to Daryl till mid afternoon by the time they gathered supplies and prepared to leave Atlanta. She was pissed that he blew her off all morning but maybe he just felt funny with everyone around. She was ready to give him a pass on the bad behavior from that morning, but he was actively avoiding her.

She finally found herself near him and out of ear shot of everyone else as they were loading cars and deciding which way to get back to the main road. Lucy watched his shoulders tense as she began to speak.

“Hey,”

“Hey,” Daryl replied and he seemed annoyed. He was miles away from where they had been just the day before. His attitude was worse than it had ever been, he was wound up and angry almost.

They worked side by side not saying a word for a few minutes and Lucy had a feeling that everything had changed, he was so cold. She took out a cigarette and lit it, took a drag and offered it to him.

“Share?”

“No,” He was purposefully being short with her and she wasn’t taking the hint. He hated like hell to be this way but it was what was best for her. He would have to make sure she understood that he was not good for her.

“Daryl, is there something wrong? Are you upset with me?”

“Nope.” 

“Can we talk, I feel like we need to…”

"Just leave me alone Lucy,” He stopped loading the truck for a second and faced her, “I was just trying to get laid, ok that’s all it was?" He hissed, “Just scratching an itch, nothing more.”

Lucy stopped dead in the road, “What did you just say to me?” She could not believe the audacity of him.

“You heard me,” He snapped and started walking back to the pile of supplies to load more stuff up again without looking back at her. A few of their friends heard what was going on, including Merle, who just shook his head.

Daryl didn’t know how to get out of his own way.

She furious now, it was like he was a totally different person, and she yelled across the street at him, she didn’t care who heard it either, “Fuck you, Daryl, fuck all the way off!”

Everyone heard that and nobody said a word as they got into their respective vehicles, Lucy climbed into the RV passenger side, Amy and Marylee climbed in the back. She stared straight ahead the entire way out of Atlanta lost in her thoughts and full of regret. But she didn’t cry, she was not giving that son of a bitch her tears.

Daryl told Merle to shut the fuck up before he even said a word when he got into the truck. Andrea was on the bench seat between them and she just shook her head. Nobody spoke in that vehicle either.

///////////////////////////////////

Lucy sat down in the Adirondack chair outside and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag and blowing it up towards the night sky. It was quiet, she could hear the crickets and see fireflies out in the field before her. The sky was clear and in the distance she could see Daryl walking the perimeter of the property on watch again, they were not speaking to each other.

The group was on the road to Ft. Benning, but the highways were congested and they were having difficulty getting past the cars that died in the streets, they also had seen other people, and they didn’t look friendly. So they got off the road every night, no matter where they were to avoid others.

Lucy and Daryl had not told anyone about what had happened to them on the road, but it was unspoken, others were to be avoided. He might have been the one to suggest that to Rick, she didn’t know because they were successfully avoiding each other.

Glenn joined her as she sat on the front porch of the house they were staying in for the night. It was an old tract house, in a gated community that had been abandoned but it would do for the group to rest for a night or two. Ft. Benning was 100 miles away, this was going to take a long time, it was disheartening.

There just didn’t seem to be any rush now. The disappointment at the CDC made them a little wary of what might lie ahead for them. Everyone was dragging for one reason or another, it was like there was a cloud over them now.

Jenner had said there was no hope and maybe he had been right. Lucy had a conversation with Rick at dinner and he seemed troubled, but he denied it. Maybe he was just feeling it too, things had not turned out the way they expected, for any of them.

Lucy wasn’t sleeping again, just like before they had joined the group and her sister was worried about her. As usual when she was wounded about something Lucy had been avoiding everyone all day and Marylee had asked Glenn to talk to her. 

Glenn was quite sure that whatever was bothering her she would keep to herself, he had been asking her for days already. Lucy was being tight lipped and so was Daryl and both of them were in a bad mood.

He knew what it was anyway. The day she and Daryl had gotten to the CDC they were practically holding hands with heart eyes, and their feelings for each other were written all over their faces..

Now they hadn’t said a word to each other in four days that Glenn could tell and Lucy was upset or at least tense over it, Daryl was too in his own way.

In the distance they could still see him with the crossbow slung over his shoulder out in the shadows, along with Shane, walking the yard to keep them all safe. 

“You OK?” Glenn asked as he sat in the chair next to her.

“Yeah, why?”

“You’ve been…” Glenn shrugged, surely she knew how she had been and he was worried about her.

“I’m OK.”

No she wasn’t. 

“What's going on with you and Daryl?”

“Nothing now.” Slipped out before she could stop it, she was still so mad at him, and she needed someone to talk to. She couldn’t tell Marylee about this and Andrea and Merle were out on a run. It would have been easier to discuss this with Andrea but now that she had started, it was going to be Glenn.

“Did you two..?”

Lucy nodded and Glenn’s eyes bugged out of his head. He was so expressive and it was so easy to read him.

“Don’t act so scandalized,” Lucy laughed, Glenn looked like he wanted to climb under a rock. But he was oddly curious, Lucy had fucked Daryl and now they weren't speaking. It was like a bad ‘80’s movie.

“Was it?...”

“Amazing, yeah, and now this bastard is giving me the cold shoulder, which is fine, fuck him,” She answered.

“Well…” Glenn laughed nervously.

“Yeah I know,” She exhaled, “I already did.”

“You knew I would say it…”

“Of course,” She gave a slight smile, and shook her head with a laugh, “ It’s fine Glenn, I’m fine.”

“Marylee said you haven't been sleeping.”

“It’ll pass, it always does,” She shrugged, he wasn’t the first guy to dump her. She had really felt something though, a true connection and he had felt it too, but apparently didn’t want it at all.

“Like a kidney stone full of blood and pain…”

“It was just a thing, and now it’s over…” She answered, “That’s all.”

//////////////////////////////////////////

Shane and Daryl remained out in the field and they were silent. Unlike Glenn and Lucy who were having a heart to heart, they didn’t say a word. Daryl was having trouble detaching from her, and he had never gone through this before. It had always been so easy to put a woman out of his mind.

It took as long as it took to put his boots back on to forget any girl he had ever been with. This whole thing had backfired on him, he wanted so much more than a quick fuck with Lucy but his instinct was to end it before they were in too deep. He had almost got her killed, and if that had happened he never would have forgiven himself.

What he had told her before had been the truth. He had never had a girlfriend and he had never wanted one. Then he wanted her for his own, but it wasn’t meant to be, it could never be. 

“You should tell her before it’s too late,” Shane said out of the blue.

“What?”

“Lucy, you should…”

“Ain’t nothing going on with her and me Walsh,” Daryl snapped.

“I’m just saying, I dropped the ball on the most important conversation of my life,” It was unspoken between them what and who he was talking about, “Don’t make the same mistake, life’s way too short now man.”

“Don’t tell me what I should do and not do OK?” Daryl hissed.

“Don’t be like me.”

Daryl turned to see Merle approaching, in the distance he could see Lucy and Glenn sitting on the porch, she was smoking like a chimney all day and he knew it was his fault.

“Lucy says hi,” Merle said just to poke the snake a little.

“Merle I know goddamn well she didn’t say that, why you got to be this way.”

“Cause you’re being a dick to a sweet girl who cares about you…” Sweet girl, that was what he had called her. Come here sweet girl. 

If he told them what happened on the road maybe they’d understand, but he couldn’t even put his fear into words. He had nightmares about it where there was more than one guy, and they held him down while they each assaulted her. Sleeping was horrifying to him, and every dream ended with him watching Lucy die and him powerless to stop it.

He knew Shane and Merle were right, he was being an unnecessary dick, but they didn’t know what happened. This way if anything happened he wouldn’t hesitate and she wouldn’t have to go through what she went through because he couldn't pull the trigger.


	26. 26

A week went by, then two and three; a lot of outside drama went down to keep Lucy on her toes and distracted from feeling bad about what had happened. There were bigger fish to fry and soon they all found themselves camped out on a farm that was set back from the road in the woods. Daryl had made camp on the other side of the field away from everyone and just kept to himself except to go hunting for the group. 

Gradually he had been pulling away from everyone and Lucy wasn’t going to try and pull him back this time. There was too much to do and if he wanted to act that way, so be it.

Carl was recovering from an accidental shooting that brought them all there, but he was going to be fine thanks to Shane going for supplies, even if they had lost someone on the way back. Shane had told a terrifying story when he got back, but he had help save Carl by bringing the supplies.

The owner of the farm was a medical man, albeit for animals but beggars couldn’t be choosers and he had saved Carl’s life. It had been stressful and touch and go for a day and a half, but the boy was on the road to recovery now.

They were stuck there until the Carl was healed enough to travel, or the owner changed his mind about letting them stay. Herschel Greene was a man who knew his own mind and he had two daughters to protect, but he was open to helping their group.

Lucy was working on that daily, she had assisted the man, Herschel, to remove the bullet fragments from Carl and they had a rapport now. They all ate their meals together and Amy and Marylee had made a friend in Herschel’s younger daughter Beth.

It was a quiet morning and Lucy decided to go for a run, avoiding the tent on the other side of the field because fuck him. Glenn had already taken off on horseback with Herschel’s older daughter Maggie to go into town for supplies. They were cute together riding off side by side and Glenn had been nervous, a sure tell that he was into Maggie.

Lucy was happy for her friend, he deserved something good in this world. She deliberately avoided the path that led around the field and towards where Daryl was camping and went the opposite way down towards the barn. They avoided each other now and he was camping far away from everyone else.

Merle had all but thrown his hands up in disgust with Daryl weeks ago and moved into the RV with Andrea, Amy and Marylee were sleeping in the house in Beth's room for an unlimited sleepover party and that was fine for everyone. 

Dale had strung a hammock in two trees by their campsite on the farm and that's where he slept, until it got too cold of course. The rest of the group had tents set up together, except Daryl of course.

//////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl saw her anyway, even if they weren’t a thing anymore he still knew where she was almost at all times and he knew she jogged when she was stressed out. He also recalled telling her not to jog alone, she didn’t listen good. It was no surprise that Lucy was stressed after Sophia almost got lost in the woods on the way back when that herd came down from the ridge he and Lucy had run from on the way to the CDC. 

But he still didn’t like her running alone.

He remembered pulling her back up the hill and how afraid he was that she would run through the horde of walkers just to try and get to her sister. She would have gotten killed, turned into one of them. He should have known right then to stay away.

But he just couldn' and it had been so good, he had felt good with her.

It had all gotten too fucked up after that, he had put her life at risk because of his feelings and that couldn’t happen ever again. But now he watched as she jogged around the perimeter of the land and thought to himself, it would have been ...but it wasn’t. It was better this way, if he turned it off he wouldn’t get her killed. 

The longing would go away eventually.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Lucy did two circles around the Greene farm and felt better immediately. Daryl’s little lone tent was visible from where she stood stretching but she couldn’t see him. He did come to the group to bring food or to take his meals back to his tent. But other than that no one saw him much. He had exiled himself as soon as they got there and no one could have talked him out of it. 

Shane had tried to reason with him but Daryl was a stubborn bastard, Shane’s words not hers.

She was wondering exactly where he might be when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she had been so lost in thought that she didn’t hear Merle behind her. Later when she thought about that she was angry with herself both for her reaction and for not being aware of what was around her. 

They were safe on the farm but it wouldn’t do to become complacent. Merle found out the hard way not to sneak up on her, and all those years of her father making her kickbox the heavy bag just reared its head. Right into Merle’s head. He was dumbfounded, and impressed.

“Whoa Lucy I was just…” His hand went to his cheek and a look of horror came over her face as she realised what she did.

“I’m sorry Merle, I’m…” She cried out and her hands went first to her face in horror and then to his, “Oh, my god! I’m so sorry!”

“It's ok sugar, I shoulda never snuck up on ya like that.” He laughed, “You’re good…”

She laughed and it broke the ice a bit and made her feel less like an ass for getting spooked the way she did.

“I'm so sorry…”

“Lucy you got no reason to apologize to me, I snuck up on you, I deserved what I got and my brother is a dope…”

Lucy just shook her head, “You and Andrea want company today, I need to get out of here for a while, getting a little stir crazy I guess.”

“Ya think,” Merle cackled, “Sure honey, you need a break, let’s get you a break.” Merle and Andrea were going to get gasoline for the generator Herschel had and for the cars. Glenn was going to town for supplies with Maggie and they were going the opposite way to the one gas station in the town. 

They didn’t like to send too many people out at one time but there was no choice this time.

//////////////////////

Rick was going along too and so the four of them left within the hour in a little car that Shane had pilfered from the side of the road. They stopped at the gas station and Merle and Andrea set to siphoning gas, because of course Merle knew how and probably Daryl did too but she didn’t give a fuck what he knew how to do.

Inside the gas station she found a hershey bar with almonds and ripped it open. Rick came by filling a bag with candy as well. The chocolate raised her endorphins immediately and Lucy grabbed another one for the road, and her beloved twizzlers as they finished up and walked out.

As they got in the backseat Lucy noted that Rick had chocolate and a jar of pickles. 

“What’s up with that?” She nodded towards his goody bag.

“It’s for Lori,” He began, “She’s uh...she’s pregnant.”

“Oh fuck congrats,” Merle called from the front seat and Lucy sighed in utter relief that she had the bar in her arm. She couldn’t even imagine a baby under these circumstances even if she and Daryl were still speaking.

“Not sure I’m the one you should be congratulating.” Rick said with trepidation.

“Oh shit,” Lucy said out loud to no one in particular.

“Big deal man,” Merle stated, “It ain’t that kids fault, and that’s the one that matters now, not you and the misses or Shane.”

“So you all knew…”

“Not really,” Andrea interrupted before Merle made it worse, “I mean, you didn’t get there till almost two weeks after we all did.”

“She didn’t wait too long did she?” Rick griped.

Merle turned on a CD and The Cure came through the speakers *****It’s friday, I’m in love…****

“Well, we were all shell shocked,” Lucy explained, “Mary and I didn’t even leave our house for almost a month, you can't judge what people do in this kind of situation.”

“Either way, you’re gonna be a daddy,” Merle said and produced a cigar from his inside shirt pocket, “I obtained these bad boys from a semi out in the parking lot, they’re cubans…and we’ve got something to celebrate.”

“Ohhhhh give me one too…” Lucy piped up and he passed two cigars back and a lighter. They drove back with each one of them smoking a cigar like the world didn’t just end and Rick wasn’t facing one of the worst challenges of his life.

“This your place with walls?” Andrea asked as they drove past the fence of the Greene drive way.

“Don’t know yet, Andrea, maybe,” Rick answered.

“Hope so man,” Merle answered as they turned into the driveway.

Daryl was walking across the field with a string of squirrels covered in dirt as the car went by, he could see red hair in the backseat with Rick laughing. Merle beeped his horn and waved, Daryl waved back, trying not to look at Lucy. But her hair was flying all around her face from the open windows, he could still remember how good her hair smelled, lemongrass and he could see she was smoking a cigar.

She never ceased to surprise and amaze him, fuck his life. The Cure was playing and she was laughing with her hand dangling out the window holding the cigar like she had not a care in the world. Her fingers twitched in a small wave to him as she went by at least that was what he thought he had seen.

Saturday, wait.  
And Sunday always comes too late.  
But Friday, never hesitate.  
I don't care if Monday's black.  
Tuesday, Wednesday, heart attack.  
Thursday, never looking back.  
It's Friday, I'm in love.


	27. 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The separation is almost over.

Because Herschel had a generator Lucy was able to charge her iPod that she had carried around in her backpack only because it had a picture of her parents, but now she had Green Day and Blink 182 and that was such a good thing.

There were lights at this house and a washing machine, they ate some meals in the dining room, and it was hard to believe it was the end of the world. Herschel was a spiritual man and more than once he had said that the world wasn’t over. It was just mother nature's way of righting things.

Lucy was not much for philosophical ideas, it was what it was. 

It was food for thought for sure, but existing day to day was a struggle, and it would be worse if they hadn’t ended up there. Rick wanted to stay, and now she understood why. A winter on the road with Lori being pregnant would not be good for her or the baby.

She and Marylee sat together on the porch swing and shared the head phones and it was almost like nothing bad had happened. Her sister had made two new friends and occupied her time with them or sometimes watching Carl and Sophia so their moms could get things done around camp.

It was what Lucy had wanted for them and although it had been a long painful road she would not have changed a thing, or maybe just one thing. 

“He’s an asshole you know…”

Marylee had said after “The Girl at the Rock Show,” was over and Lucy nodded, she knew who her sister was talking about.

“And it’s his loss.”

“Thanks sweetie but I’m fine,” She took off the iPod, “Takes a lot more than some dude to beat me down, you know that.”

“I just never thought, I mean…” Marylee struggled to find words to what she was trying to say, “I didn’t think he would…”

“Why don’t you take this and see if Beth has one of those speaker thingies.” Lucy handed her the iPod, I have some stuff to do.”

This was Lucy’s way of avoiding the conversation, Marylee knew that.

“Thanks, I don’t want you listening to Jack Johnson and feeling bad anyway.”

“How did you know I listen to him when I’m upset,” Lucy asked.

“You’ve always done that for as long as I can remember, and I could hear you singing “Wasting Time,” the other day when you were up making coffee, I don’t want you to be sad.” She looked across the field to Daryl’s tent, “I'd rather you were singing something else.”

“I’m fine,” Lucy replied.

“You know what Dad said about fine?”

“Fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional,” Lucy laughed, “Maybe just a little bit.”

Lucy slung her arm around her sister as they swung.

“One more song?” Lucy asked and Marylee eagerly nodded, they sat out there together for a while listening to Green Day and it was a good day.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

As soon as Glenn got back from the run to town with Maggie he ran into Lucy who was stacking wood by the fire pit. Maggie had already said goodbye to him and beat it into the house like her ass was on fire. He was feeling good and bad about things with Maggie, he really liked her but she acted like she didn’t like him much at all.

He considered talking to Lucy about it but didn’t know what he could even say. She had gotten fucked over by Daryl and Glenn didn’t want to upset her, this was news he would keep to himself for now. Lucy would be happy for him, he knew but it was bad timing.

Lucy was humming to herself one of her favorite songs, “Inside Out.” Glenn had some Cheetos for her, so it was as good a time as any to give them to her. 

*********I would swallow my pride  
I would choke on the rinds, but the lack thereof would leave me empty inside  
I would swallow my doubt, turn it inside out  
Find nothing but faith in nothing  
Want to put my tender  
Heart in a blender  
Watch it spin round to a beautiful oblivion  
Rendezvous, then I'm through with you  
I alone am the one you don't know you need  
Take heed, feed your ego  
Make me blind when your eyes close  
Sink when you get close, tie me to the bedpost******

Glenn tried not to sneak up on her because he, unlike Merle knew that was a dumb idea. So he called to her way before he was near her and she turned around, “Hey Glenn how was the town.” Lucy said as she walked towards him.  
She stopped short and assessed him, there was nothing different and yet, there was. He reached out the bag to her but Lucy wasn’t even paying attention to that.  
“You got laid!” Was the first thing out of her mouth, in a whisper then she covered it with her hand and giggled. 

“W..w What?” Glenn stammered but it was no use, she knew him too well and it was written all over his face anyway.

“Glenn!” Her eyes bugged out, “It's all over your face, you’re beat red! Hahahahaha it’s worse than when you drink!” She threw her arms around him, “I’m so happy for you!”

“She said it was just a one time thing…”

“Nah, you’re a catch surely she sees that?” Lucy led him over to the steps and they sat down, “Spill your guts right now. Do you like her? She’s cute.”

“I like her a lot.”

“Alright, do me a favor, don’t play games and don’t play hard to get. If you like her let her know.”

“What do you want me to do, pass her a note in homeroom?” He laughed, Lucy laughed too and bumped her shoulder against his.

“Do whatever you have to to get the girl. Alright.”

“I’m going to.”

Lucy grabbed his hand, “I am so happy for you!”

They sat and giggled on the porch for another few minutes, and it was almost as if they were two high school kids swapping stories and giving each other advice. Glenn and Lucy had a true friendship, he was a good thing in her life and she always encouraged him like she did sitting out there with their heads together. He did the same for her, he was a constant in her life now, the end of the world had brought many good things to her, and gave her time with her sister she wouldn’t have had otherwise.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl and Merle were down at the end of the driveway and from there he could see the two of them up on the porch. The sun was shining just right and her hair was falling all around her shoulders like a waterfall. He missed her. He missed her so goddamn much.

“Your girl kicked my ass…” Merle stated as he and Daryl unloaded some gasoline cans from the cars for Herschel’s generator. Daryl at first didn’t hear him because his head was down by the trunk, he couldn’t look at her any more sitting there with Glenn. Then Merle was yapping so he stood up then.

“What?”

“It was my fault, she didn’t see me and I touched her shoulder…”

“Who?”

“Lucy, she roundhouse kicked me right in the face, she was wired up but good.” Merle laughed, “I didn’t even see it coming.”

“Stop calling her my girl, that’s over…”

“Yeah because you’re a dumb ass,” Merle rubbed his chin where a bruise was forming, “If I was you I’d want her on my side is all I’m saying.”

Daryl grinned slightly, he couldn’t help it, she kicked Merle in the face, it was funny as hell. He missed her, he missed their banter and even the fighting, now it was just nothing. She had dropped out of his life as if she had never been there. But she had been there for a short time and she had changed him profoundly.

They were in the same area and yet they never spoke, at least before they sniped at each other. Now it was just nothing. But he knew she had been there and she had left a gaping hole now that he could not get rid of.

He and Merle went about the work of filling the generator with the gas and putting the empties back in the trunk of the car.

“You’re still fucked up from it though, whatever it was,” Merle stated, “She’s got a hold of you now.”

“Not happening,” Was all Daryl would say on the matter.

“If you ask me you’re the one who needs the kick in the face…” Merle laughed and then he saw Marylee coming up the path with a scowl on her face a mile wide.

“Daryl?” She approached with her hands on her hips, “A word.”

“Oh shit brother,” Merle laughed and elbowed him as they both leaned on the car while hurricane Marylee blew into their area.

“How long is this going to go on?”

“What?” Daryl snapped as he lit a cigarette.

“When are you going to put away your ego and make up with my sister?”

“Never," Merle snarked from behind him, "Cause he's a dumb ass."

“Shut the fuck up Merle!” Daryl snapped, then turned to face her, “Marylee it’s complicated…”

“What, like on Facebook “It’s complicated?” She asked, “Look I don’t know what happened but…”

Then they both heard Lucy’s voice from down on the porch where she had been sitting with Glenn, “MARYLEE!”

“Oh fuck, look at what you did.” Merle laughed at Marylee as Lucy approached them. Glenn stayed on the porch, he wanted no part of this.

“Thought you were going to hang out with Beth and Amy?” Lucy asked, trying to catch her breath from the light jog she had just done to get to where they were.

“I’m on my way now,” She answered, as she took out the ear buds and put them in her ears, “Bye now.”

The three of them stood there in awkward silence until Merle finally spoke up, “Think I hear Andrea looking for me…”

“Chicken Shit,” Daryl murmured. 

Lucy smiled at that and Merle said his goodbyes, then he was gone back down the path that led back to where they were all camping. Neither of them spoke for a while, but Lucy wasn’t going to back down.

“We should talk,” Daryl grumbled.

“So talk,” Was all she would give him. Lucy was not about to make this easy for him, he had hurt her feelings and been unnecessarily mean to her for no reason. Now he wanted to talk, three weeks later? The audacity of him!

“I don’t know where to start.” He finally said after what seemed like hours to both of them.

“Then I will,” She answered, “This is stupid, you don’t have to be so far away from everyone. It’s not good for the group to be separated like this; I can handle it.”

“Maybe It’s me that can’t handle it…”

Well, that had never occurred to her. Lucy had assumed he just didn’t want anything to do with her and had isolated himself to get away from her. That was true enough, but not because he hated her.


	28. 28

They stood there for a long time, neither of them speaking, and Lucy didn’t want to be the one to start the conversation after what he had just said. This was all on him and putting words in his mouth was not what she wanted to do either. So she waited. He would either say what he wanted to say or he wouldn’t but she wanted him to be part of the group again.

Rick was right about them all sticking together and leaving no one behind, and he was trying to do his best to deal with the unfortunate situation he was in. If he could deal with Lori and Shane, Daryl and Lucy could deal with each other, this was way bigger than them.

Separating himself from them had been dumb in her opinion, not that what she thought mattered. Daryl had made all those decisions without her input and now he had to do this on his own too. Even if they couldn’t work things out, he still needed to be part of the group, they needed him and he needed them.

That was the problem with getting involved with someone during these times. They were fighting for their lives most of the time but she had felt most alive when she was with him. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. But Daryl needed to come back from the other side of the field. 

Lori had gone out there to try and talk some sense into him, because Rick was delayed getting back with Shane one night and he had told her to get lost. Usually Daryl was the first person to volunteer to go scavenge supplies or to help with anything, but no more.

He was miserable and wanted to stay that way, case closed. He was done doing for everyone he told her and wanted nothing from them.

It had seemed simple to him, reject her, drive her away and be done with it. He had literally done it to many of the women he came into contact with, and all of the ones he had slept with in the past. It always worked for him and he was always fine, but not this time. He was not fine.

He had never communicated a feeling to someone before or cared to, he was always in the wind when it was over. This was all so new for Daryl, he couldn’t get over her, he just couldn’t. No manner of separation had helped, he still thought about Lucy constantly.

“Look I made a mistake ok and I don’t know how to fix it.” He began.

“How about talking to me, that’s a start.”

Daryl considered it for a moment and then it all came pouring out in a tumble of words that he didn’t even think about first. He was always so careful with words, and a man of so few, except for when he was with her.

He could never keep things from her and he didn’t want to. That’s what he had found out in his self imposed isolation. She was still the first person he thought of when he woke up in the morning and the last person he thought about before he closed his eyes at night.

With Lucy, the words just always poured out of him and all of his defenses always came down with her. At first it bothered him, he didn’t want to let her in, but she was in him now, and she belonged there. Now he wanted her there.

“I miss you, I miss the fighting and the sarcastic comments, all your bullshit and nonsense.” He paced in front of her, “You’re a goddamn pain in my ass ninety percent of the time." He stopped and ran his hand through his hair, "You're annoying and set in your ways with the fucking vanilla extract you put in everything, fucking crunchy cheetos and those disgusting chocolate twizzlers…”

“You really know how to turn on the charm Dixon…” Lucy quipped.

“See?” He lit a cigarette and passed it to her and she accepted it gratefully, “That’s what I mean, you’re a smartass. You make me so mad sometimes. Who knew that was what I can’t live without.”

“You really hurt my feelings...” Lucy answered and she meant it, he had finally made up his mind but she wasn't too sure she could trust him again.

“I’m sorry. I got scared I guess…” He explained as they smoked side by side as the sun started going down.

“Of what? You thought I wanted to have babies and spend our lives listening to Ed Sheeran songs?” Lucy laughed, “Were you afraid I wanted to tie you down.”

“Not that kind of scared,” Daryl chuckled softly and tried to put what he was feeling into words, “Scared for your life, of not keeping you safe. I don’t know what it was, I need you, and I’ve never needed someone before and that guy had a gun to your head…” Then he just stopped, “I miss my friend…”

“Thought you didn’t want to be friends?”

“No...I said I didn’t want to be just friends…” Daryl corrected.

“I’m mad at you...”

“I know it, I deserve it.”

“All because some guy tried to feel me up? Do you know how many times that's happened in bars over the years?”

“Just want to keep you safe.”

“But I don’t wanna be safe, not like that…” She came closer to him until they were a breath away from each other and she shook her head, “I don’t want that kind of safe.”

He wanted to kiss her then but hesitated, it wasn’t going to be that easy and he wasn’t going to disrespect her feelings after what he had done. Instead Daryl went for a hug and she still fit him perfectly. She always had, they were like two pieces of a puzzle, made just for each other.

“Come back to the group and we’ll see what happens, ok.”

He just stood there holding her, breathing in her scent. She smelled like lemongrass soap and that was just about the best smell he could ever remember. It was funny how he missed her smell, and now he was so relaxed in her arms.

“I want it the way it was…” He lifted her up onto her tiptoes, it was worth a try, he figured. 

Lucy shook her head, but didn’t let go of him either, she had missed him too, it felt good to be in his arms again, “Not yet, you really hurt me, now I’m afraid..”

“That’s fine, we aren’t back together but we will be. I won't give up and I understand that we have to start over; except now I already know about that birthmark you have under your right…” He raised his eyebrows and slid his eyes down to her chest.

“Shhhhhhhh,” She giggled, “My eyes are up here…”

He brought his mouth to the shell of her ear, “I’m a boob guy, you know this already,” He whispered and all the hair stood up on her neck. He brought his nose along her neck, breathing deeply, but never touched her, he didn’t have too, the effect was the same.

“Are you going to go move your tent tonight or what?” Lucy shut him down quick, and Daryl just smiled, he expected as much. It was worth a shot though. He wasn’t going to give up on her so easily, and once he got her back he was never going to let her go or fuck it up again.

“That's the plan,” He replied with a grin, “I’ll be seeing you around…”

Lucy watched him as he walked away, the view was stunning as usual, there was something about the way he walked coming or going, and that red rag that was always in his back pocket but she wouldn’t give in that easily. She wanted him to work to get her back and she needed to trust him. This was going to be the long game, and she wouldn’t be so easily seduced this time. He also needed to know that this was his only chance, if he ever hurt her that way again it would be over forever.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Rick was on the porch stairs sitting when Lucy walked back from talking to Daryl. It was clear that he saw and might have heard what went down between them. They had talked briefly about the situation when Daryl isolated himself from everyone, Rick had heard Daryl yell at her on the way back from the CDC, everyone had.

Lucy knew that he had his own problems brewing, and a potential shit show once the baby was born but Rick was doing his best to hang on to his wife and his best friend at the same time. Lucy didn’t envy him, his situation was more fucked up than hers and Daryl’s.

“So, you forgave him?”

“Not exactly, he publicly humiliated me…” Lucy blew a breath out and sat down next to him

“Sucks doesn’t it?”

“It’s not all moonlight and roses is it?”

Rick shook his head and laughed, “No it certainly is not.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Don’t know,” He answered truthfully, he didn’t know what to do. He suspected the baby wasn’t his, neither Lori or Shane confirmed anything, but Rick wasn’t stupid. The math did not add up, he had told them all that the day they went for gas.

“They always say if you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything, and that's my plan…”

She reached into her pocket and took out a package of chocolate twizzlers and offered him one. Rick took it even though he had never had chocolate ones before.

“Chocolate?” 

“Good right?”

“Yeah, really good.”

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do when we can’t find them anymore…” Lucy sighed.

“Do you think we should stay here?”

“If Herschel lets us I guess till the spring, I don’t know Rick, what does your gut say…”

“See those fences there?” He pointed to the far end of the property where the fences were, they went all around the farm, but Rick wasn’t convinced having seen the bridge fall when too many of the dead were on it.

“Yeah?”

“They aren't strong enough if a whole bunch of them show up and that’s why I can’t sleep at night.”


	29. 29

Things got into a routine, Daryl did move his tent back with everyone and began trying to win Lucy back for good. It started with a flower, outside her tent every morning and went on for weeks. It was always a black eyed susan, which she had casually remarked that she loved way back when they were at the quarry. 

He had remembered. They grew wild in the woods near the farm and when he was hunting Daryl had found them when he and Lucy were still on the outs

Every morning before he went to hunt he dropped one off for her, it was a sweet gesture that surprised her at first. But it made her feel special and that also let her know he was serious, they were talking again, building something together.

As Lucy walked to the cooking area where Lori and Carol were cooking she held the flower in her hand.

“Every day a flower…” Lori hummed as Lucy shoved it in her hair and came over and started helping them cook the eggs for every one. Shane was sitting in a camp chair eating eggs and he teased Lucy a little.

“He’s persistent isn't he?”

Lucy handed Shane a cup of coffee, “He says he isn’t going to give up.”

“Good for him,” Shane winked at her. He and Lucy had not talked to each other regarding their issues but Daryl and Shane were pretty tight, they took watch together often and talked. It was Daryl who told him to back off from Lori and Rick, it wasn’t easy but he was trying.

“He won't, not till it’s all cupcakes and handjobs around here again,” Merle announced standing behind Andrea at the door of the RV, “That boy once got lost in the woods for nine days, but didn’t give up to find his way home. Nine days, can you imagine? I was in juvie and the old man never noticed he was gone…”

“Now that’s stellar parenting,” Shane observed as Merle and Andrea joined the group followed by Dale.

“It's not easy raising kids,” Dale answered, “Especially when they get older and think they know everything.” 

“Even so,” Merle agreed, “My brother hasn’t had it easy, he’s the sweet one.”

“So are you,’ Andre answered.

“Shhhh darlin, don’t be telling people that,” Merle laughed as they sat down and Lucy handed them coffee. This was their typical morning through September and October, it was still warm enough to be outside. 

Daryl had told her that story from his childhood that first night with her in the gas station. She felt for that small boy lost, with no one who even cared to look for him that night. It was one of many stories he told her and she had told him plenty too.

He knew things about her that no one did and likewise she knew things about him. They had held nothing back, and they never would. 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Marylee, Amy and Beth got busted by Maggie trying to sneak out of the house while everyone was asleep. It was a clear night with a full moon and a sky filled with stars, they had watched from the window until everyone was asleep, but they had not known Maggie was outside

Maggie had been coming back from meeting Glenn and was on the porch when they tried to get out the door. Beth was not as clever as Maggie was, she had slipped out before anyone even noticed. She and Glenn were not ready to announce to everyone what was going on with them. Only Lucy knew, and that was because she had seen it written all over Glenn’s face.

“Where are you girls going…” Maggie leaned back on her heels with her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. She was reminded of times when her father had caught her sneaking out, the shoe was on the other foot now.

“It’s Halloween night,” Marylee complained as if that would make it alright..

“What are you doing up?” Beth gasped out, she had been sure Maggie was asleep.The three girls all stopped dead in their tracks and bumped into each other when Beth stopped short. It would have been funny if they hadn’t been caught.

“Asked you first…” Maggie replied. The three girls knew they were busted and just turned around in defeat.

Andrea and Lucy found out the next day when Maggie called a meeting with them right after breakfast. It wasn’t like they could be grounded, what could they possibly have taken away from them. And what could they have been thinking. Lucy was due to leave the next day for a mall run and she threatened to kick Marylee’s ass if she stepped out of line again. 

She and Maggie both had the gift of being teenagers when the world wasn’t crashing and burning, so they understood. But when they were kids, danger wasn’t knocking at their door, there were new threats now. This was not a case of just sneaking out, it was much more than that.

Herschel dealt with Beth and it was not pretty, Marylee and Amy were banished from the house and back to the tents and it was well deserved. No one blamed him for it either, it was what it was. If Lori hadn’t been pregnant they all might have been thrown out.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A few nights after the great failed escape Lucy had a headache in the middle of the night and she was actually surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner. She had a history of chronic migraines and if anything would be migraine inducing, it would have been the last few months of her life. 

She was usually healthy and didn’t get sick too often but the headaches were no joke. The bullshit with Marylee certainly didn’t help at all, she already had enough to worry about..

It woke her up from a dead sleep just like her migraines used to hit back in Pittsburgh, and it hurt like a bitch. After she took a few deep breaths, she got up and went outside her tent to look through the first aid kit for aspirin and got some water. Gulping the pills down, she prayed for relief soon, tomorrow was a big day. She needed to be on her game for the run they were going on. Supplies were getting shorter and shorter now that they were all there, plus the Greene family.

They had needed to go farther and farther away just to find the basic things they needed. Winter was coming and soon they were all going to move into Herschel’s house, Rick had finally been able to convince the older man to allow them inside.

Now Lucy was wide awake and it was too early, she needed to go back to sleep but her head just hurt so much. She needed to be 100 percent for the run to the pharmacy, she was the only person who knew what medications they needed and what they didn’t need. 

Her head hurt so badly though.

It really had been odd that she had not gotten one before now, that had been lucky, but this one was a doozy, she wiped the tears away and accepted the fact she wasn't getting back to sleep that night. 

At one time she had to be on special meds for her headaches. Thank God that was over because finding any medications was few and far between now. She often wondered what diabetic survivors were doing, but sadly she knew what the answer to that was, without insulin and refrigeration, they were dying.

Daryl was sitting by the fire keeping watch so she grabbed a chair and pulled it over to sit with him. He seemed glad to see her, they hadn’t really talked much since he moved his tent back to the group, but only because they were both busy. There was no rift between them anymore, and they both wanted things to work out, so they were starting over and taking it really slow at her request. 

“Cant sleep?” He observed, she was standing there in leggings and a long t-shirt with her hair going all over the place and she looked beautiful to him. For once in his life he wanted to work on building something with another person, and he was letting her set the pace. 

“Headache, I get them sometimes…”

“Sorry…”

“It’s ok, I’m used to it…”

“Come here,” He pointed towards a spot in front of him and Lucy hesitated, giving him a funny look and he sighed, “Just come here."

Lucy shuffled over and stood in front of him, wondering what exactly he was up to. He motioned again for her to sit down. But she still hesitated, in the past that would have made him angry, but he was different now.

“Sit, and put your back against my knees.” He instructed, “I won't bite…”

Lucy tilted her head as if to say, “Really?”

“Trust me?” 

She still hesitated, she remembered how he had acted when Andrea had a headache on the way to the CDC. But finally she did as he asked and sat down, then waited to see what he would do next. Her back was against his knees and he parted them to get her closer but not in a sexual way, she felt safe and not at all like he was hitting on her.

“Close your eyes,” He instructed, and she did so. Slowly, Daryl brought his hands over the back of her head and ran his fingers over her forehead and around her eyes. His rough working man's hands were soft on her face as he brought his fingers over her eyes and cheeks then back to her forehead. 

Lucy relaxed immediately and let her head fall back into his lap, his touch felt sweet, relaxing. So relaxing in fact that she sighed out loud. Daryl grinned as if to say "Told ya so."

For a few minutes she just enjoyed the sensation and he did have magic fingers, she knew that all too well. Her headache was dissipating quicker than it ever had before surprisingly. She was calm and the pain was just draining out of her.

“Better?”

“Mmmhmmmm…”

“What's your favorite song?”

“Disco?”

“No all time, the one that makes everything better as soon as you hear it, mines US Blues by The Grateful Dead.”

Lucy smiled as his hands moved down to her shoulders, again it wasn’t seductive, he was gentle, as if he wanted to take her pain away. The Grateful Dead, how very Daryl that was; it figured that he liked that song. She liked it too.

“Bittersweet Symphony,” She answered.

“The Verve, nice…” Then he was singing softly, *****Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life  
Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die.  
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down  
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah.*****

Lucy settled back against him and he continued running his fingers over her forehead, and humming her favorites song, she closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch without reading anything more into it. Neither of them spoke and they didn’t have to, it was nice just being together with no expectations.

It had been a while since he had come back and participated in society again, this was the first real contact they had other than a few words. He breathed in the scent of her hair, lemongrass, he had missed the way she smelled and the way it made him feel.

“How did you know this would help me…”

“I know things,” He replied with a slight smile, "How did you not know it would help."

"Nobody ever bothered before …"

“That’s a crime.”

From behind then Merle's voice bellowed, “Oh it’s on again?” He announced as he approached them, “Good, he’s been a moody fuck all…”

“It’s not on again…” Daryl answered back, “She’s got a headache…”

“Ah, ok, it's like that then? So, next time me or your pal Rick got a headache we’ll be sure to come by…” Merle cackled, “We leave in an hour, you all ok to go still?”

"Yup," Lucy nodded, "I'll go change." 

"If you don't feel well, we can go do this…" Daryl began.

"I'm good," Lucy reassured him, "Thanks to you." 

"It's nothing…"

"Be right back…" She headed to her tent to change and Merle started right in on his brother. 

"A little more charm and she'll be riding your dick again in no time …"

"Merle, knock it off don’t talk about her that way, " Daryl snapped, "That's not what this is about."

"What?" Merle was at a loss for words for maybe the first time in his life, then he spoke carefully, "Are you in love?"

Daryl hesitated, then finally admitted "I don't know…"


	30. 30

Merle was almost speechless, he and his brother had always swapped stories about women all their lives, but now he couldn’t remember Daryl ever thinking any woman was special. How do you explain love to someone who had no clue what it felt like. Merle had been in love a time or two, he had always assumed Daryl had too.

It wasn’t something they had ever discussed, but Merle thought for sure in 38 years Daryl would have been in love with someone. Thinking about it now though Daryl had never acted the way he acted with Lucy with anyone else before the turn.

"How does the thought of her not being here feel?" Merle asked as they loaded the car later that morning as the sun was coming up. He knew how he felt about Andrea, she had changed his whole miserable life with one smile.

He knew he loved her and she loved him, the end of the world had brought Merle his soulmate and he had no problem saying it. His brother was well aware of how he felt about Andrea, Merle did not hesitate to admit it or show affection for her.

Daryl just shook his head. He could not imagine a life without Lucy there in some capacity. Even if it was just to annoy him until he died.

"Let me ask you something, who do you care more about?" Merle asked, “Yourself or her?” 

"I care more about her well being and happiness than my own," Daryl answered, “She drives me nuts with all her bullshit. But when I was by myself, I missed it so much...I missed arguing with her, and all her nonsense. What the fuck is that?”

“Haven't you ever loved anyone before?” Merle asked, it never occurred to him that Daryl had no clue what he was feeling.

“No,” Daryl bristled, then added, “Not if that’s what this is.”

“Congratulations brother,” Merle swung an arm over his shoulder, “It was bound to happen someday, and I approved of her.”

Merle was clearly a little shocked, both of them had a traumatic childhood, they lost their mother in a fire and became their drunk father’s punching bags, but Merle had risen above it. He had made a life, with friends and lovers when it suited him. But thinking on it, now he realized Daryl had never brought girls home or hung with anyone besides him and his friends.

He had been so unaware of Daryl’s life before, his brother had been a complete loner for as long as he could remember. It was almost comical thinking back on how Daryl had reacted to Lucy when they first met, and had been reacting all along to her.

Merle knew what it was, and he had been so sure that Daryl did too. Surely his younger brother had been loved by someone and loved someone before. But he hadn’t, not in all of his life and Merle was sad about that. 

Maggie and Glenn showed up before they could talk any longer to bring them water bottles for the trip. They weren’t sure how long they would be gone so they needed to bring supplies just in case. The plan was to get in and out as fast as they could, and home that same day, but things had a way of not working out so well sometimes.

“Maggie made sandwiches for everyone, home made bread and PB&J…” Glenn said proudly.

“Thanks man,” Merle accepted the sack of sandwiches gratefully as Glenn gave Daryl the water bottles to put in the car.

“Don’t worry I got your bestie,” Daryl said to Glenn as he lit a smoke. He appreciated the friendship between Lucy and Glenn and he also knew Glenn worried about her, “We’re gonna be in and out of there and back in no time.”

“Thanks.” Glenn answered, “Good luck, stay safe.”

“Should we start looking for baby stuff too?” Maggie asked and Daryl agreed, baby Grimes would be there before anyone knew it. They would need so much, formula and diapers for sure and a crib, plus so many other things they hadn’t thought of yet.

“Yeah, we’ll keep an eye out too,” Daryl replied.

Marylee and Amy came running down the stairs followed by Beth to say goodbye and hand in their wish lists if they found anything worthwhile. It was late fall now. They had been on the Greene farm since August, the turn had happened in late May. Daryl brought Lucy and Marylee to the group somewhere around July 4th. No one was really keeping track of time, but it was somewhere in early November, since the kids tried to sneak out on Halloween.

Beth kept track of the days by her calendar that she kept in her room religiously, to some it seemed silly but it was important to her. Marylee had told Lucy that Beth was making another calendar for the next year so she would always know what day it was,

“Could you look for some books Lucy,” Beth asked as Lucy walked up with her backpack, they were preparing to hunker down for the winter and the girls needed something to occupy their time. 

"Sure, any particular genre?"

"Anyyyyything," Amy declared, “Nothing scary though.”

“I’ll take scary,” Beth interrupted, “Stephen King, if you can find it.”

“Oh a girl after my own heart,” Lucy gave her a smile.

Today they were going to a mall about fifty miles away. Rick, Merle, Lucy, Daryl, and Andrea were going, Shane and Glenn were staying behind to help out on the farm.

“Remember we might be gone overnight, but we’ll be back first thing in the morning. I don’t want you to worry, OK?”

“We’ll be fine, If I need anything I’ll ask Glenn or Maggie.” Then she added, “We’re allowed back in the house, Herschel reconsidered.”

That eased Lucy’s mind, the events of the week before had worried her, she almost didn’t want to go on the run because of it. 

“Please,” Lucy asked, “Keep out of trouble.”

“Alright,” Marylee replied, “You keep an eye on her.” She said to Daryl who huffed at that thought.

“As if she needs me for that,” He replied and Marylee laughed, of course he would look out for Lucy. He had just told Glenn the same thing, but he didn’t want anyone worrying about her while he was around. 

“Where’s Rick,” Merle asked, “He’s the only one we’re missing.”

“I’ll go look,” Andrea offered and set out to go back where the tents were. 

She passed Shane who was coming towards the small group clearly trying to get away from the drama that was going on down by the tents. Rick and Lori were arguing and they had to wait because Rick was going on the run with them.

“Shane would you help Maggie and Glenn keep these three troublemakers,” She thumbed her hand towards Amy, Marylee and Beth.

Shane chuckled, and ran his hand through his hair, “Yeah I heard about that.”

“I'm sorry that didn’t sound right, I’m not asking you to babysit.”

“No, no that’s fine, I get it, been keeping an eye on the littler ones too so, it’s no big deal.”

“Thanks Shane.”

“We all gotta look out for each other…”

“Yeah we do,” Lucy agreed.

///////////////////////////////////////

When Andrea got there Rick and Lori were having a very heated discussion and Carl was by the campfire trying to hear as Carol made breakfast for him and Sophia. They had fresh eggs every morning and it was a treat for everyone.

Maggie baked bread with the younger girls so they had plenty of food for breakfast. There was a huge vegetable garden which was where Lori and Rick were arguing in front of the corn stalks. Andrea waved but it didn’t seem like they noticed.

It was common knowledge now that she was expecting, and that Rick wasn’t exactly over the moon about it. People had ideas about why that was but no one was going there. Even if they had peace here, and security, there were issues just because of the relative closeness of everyone.

A couple couldn’t even fight in private,

“Hey, Rick,” Andrea waved and he gave her the one minute sign, Andrea nodded and headed back up to the driveway where the rest of the other group were. She walked past Carl and gave him a mind your own business look, and he pretended that he didn’t see her.

Andrea was shaking her head as she came up the hill, this love triangle was going to hit the wall soon and she hoped to not be around for it.

//////////////////////////////

In the car, Merle pushed a CD into the deck and Daryl just groaned in the back seat as “Low Rider” came on. Lucy was riding in the truck behind them with Rick and Daryl had his legs stretched out on the backseat.

“Really Merle?” Daryl snarked and then they were off.

“All my friends know the low rider…” Merle sang along with the CD.

“You have crappy taste in music…” Daryl observed from the back seat and Andrea turned to talk to him.

“You going to the pharmacy with Lucy while we go to the other place.”

“Guess so,” He shrugged, as if there was any question at all.

///////////////////////////////////////////

Lucy and Rick drove together and enjoyed each other’s company as always. They chatted about the things they were going to look for and about life on the farm. Herschel had agreed to let them stay once he found out Lori was pregnant and he had not flown off the handle when the girls got caught sneaking out.

Lucy had filled him in on what was going on with the three girls yesterday and Rick entertained her with stories about himself and Shane when they were younger. Lucy told Rick about shenanigans that she had been involved in too as a teenager.

Things like this were kind of a right of passage, but it was a new world now and the old rules and ways were no longer in effect.

“How far away is this place anyway?” She asked.

“Fifty or sixty miles,”

“Mind if I smoke?”

“Give me one?”

Lucy lit two cigarettes and passed one to him. 

“Do you think we’ll find what we’re looking for?” 

“I hope so, we’re running out of local places to go.” Rick answered.

“It was inevitable I guess, there’s no one making deliveries every day any more.”

“Nope there isn’t.”

“Did you ever in your wildest dreams think something like this could happen?” Lucy asked, “It baffles my mind, sometimes I wake up and I forget for a minute.”

They passed a few straggler walkers in a far field, “Then you see that…”

“Back to reality.”

“Like a bullet.” Rick agreed.


	31. 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some friendship fluff, some love fluff and thoughtfulness before the shit hits the fan :)

It took them a while to get to the mall, between broken down cars everywhere and as they got closer to more populated areas there were more of the dead to contend with too. They needed to fuel up halfway there, and there were a few dead ones milling about that had to be dealt with.

It got easier it seemed, the longer they were from the beginning of things, they weren’t as afraid as they had been at first. They could dispatch all twenty of them easily, and without much fanfare.

It was funny how they could adapt to new things so easily. Society had broken down and yet they lived, they found a way. With every roadblock that came up they had as a group figured it out. They had come a long way in a short time, all of them.

That's why it was so important to stay together, to fight together and have each other's backs. There were petty grievances going on and that was normal but they always came together as a group united.

Inside the convenience store Daryl grabbed some snacks and some crunchy cheese doodles for Lucy. As he walked by he tossed them into the truck through the window to Lucy along with a pack of twizzlers.

“Thanks!” She grinned. 

“Yup,” He answered as he passed by to go to the car where Merle and Andrea were waiting. Then they all pulled out single file, it wasn’t too far now. 

“You guys?” 

Lucy shrugged as she opened the twizzlers and put one in her mouth, “Working on it.” She spoke with the candy between her lips, “I know he cares about me.”

“He does, and Daryl is a good man…”

“I know…”

Rick took a deep breath, there were things he wanted to get off of his chest, Lucy was a good listener and he considered her a friend. He needed to talk to someone and a female perspective might be good. 

“Lori wants to stay together because of Carl.” He began, “And she wants to save our marriage.”

“And she’s done with Shane?” She passed a twizzler to Rick.

“Yeah but I got a feeling he isn't done with her.”

“He’s gonna have to get over it and over himself.“ Lucy answered, “We have no time for drama and nonsense these days, food is getting harder to find, now we’re hauling ass to Sears for another fucking generator.”

“Shane’s got a hot head.” Rick reminded her, she had seen that first hand when Shane had pummeled Ed weeks ago.

“I know, but he’s wrong.”

"Do you think I'm a fool?"

"I think that life is complicated and we're all fools sometimes when we love other people." She answered truthfully, in the past she never took crap from men. In fact she had written men off for less than what Daryl had done. Her dating life had almost been like a Seinfeld episode. 

He had soft hands, he chewed too loudly, and many other petty things made her lose interest in someone in the past, she had never been through this before. Not even close. There had never been someone she couldn't be away from, someone she desired and was willing to compromise for. 

"You're right about that," Rick said with a smile. 

“I think right now we all have to do what makes us feel good and lets us sleep at night.”

“I can't abandon her,” Rick stated, “I love her.”

“Then that’s your answer and I’m proud of you, you’re a stand up guy Rick Grimes.”

“Well, thanks Luce,” Rick laughed, he held out another hand for more candy and she gave it to him. They had an easy friendship and talked with each other often. They shared their hesitations with each other before, both were afraid they were going to get hurt again by their respective partners.

She amused him with her matter of fact way of thinking. As if Shane would just see the error of his ways and back off. Rick knew that was never going to happen and that's what he and Lori were arguing about. 

He didn’t want to leave her there on the farm overnight and she had called him a chauvinist, then showed him the gun she was carrying. Lori had insisted that she could handle herself and take care of Carl.

“Anytime Rick, anytime,” Lucy laughed, as if people acting the way they should would ever happen. Even when the dead were getting up and walking people still did petty things, because they were still human.

“Pass me another,” He asked and held out his hand, she handed him another twizzler, while they drove down the road.

“OK that’s enough drama. Alright, Grey’s Anatomy, Fuck, Marry, Kill, go…”

Rick laughed at that as they drove on, he had been worried about Lori but she was right, he needed to trust her to take care of herself and Carl and they were safe with Herschel. For the rest of the way he and Lucy amused themselves with dumb games from before the world ended.

//////////////////////////////

Shane came upon Lori and Carl after breakfast who were sitting on the stairs talking to Carol and Sophia about going swimming in a pond on the other side of the field. His shadow loomed over the group until Lori finally looked up. It was clear there was something on his mind and he wanted to discuss it with her.

“A word?”

Lori nodded and Carol stood up, “Come on kids, let's go find some shorts to swim in.” It seemed no one had a bathing suit and it didn’t even matter. They just swam in the pond in shorts and t-shirts. Life was different now, better.

When Carol and the kids were out of ear shot Shane sat down next to her. This was a conversation neither of them wanted to have, both for different reasons. He had seen her and Rick arguing and Shane just couldn’t stand to see it.

“Shane,” Lori began.

But he put his hand up to silence her, “I’m leaving, as soon as I can get a car working and supplies I’m out of here.”

“No,” Lori didn’t want to hear this, it was all fucked up and it was all her fault.

“Afraid so,” Shane replied.

“But where will you go?”

“West, see what’s out there, maybe go look at Fort Benning anyway since I was vetoed on that.”

“Shane, please don’t leave because of this…”

“I can't be here,” He ran his hand through his hair, “I can’t watch this knowing what I know.”

“Please sleep on it, then decide, Rick isn't here. You two have been friends since you were five, you can’t not say goodbye to him."

“I can, and I will.” He stated and then he was on his way back to the tents to pack. Lori sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop him and wishing she had known how things were going to turn out beforehand. 

"You said you would help out here when everyone left this morning," She yelled after him. 

"File a complaint…" He called back to her. 

No one in this world was ever given the gift of hindsight and mistakes were always made. Some rolled downhill until everyone in its path was devastated. Rick would be upset that Shane left while he was gone, he would have forgiven him. Rick had been on the road to patching things up with Shane for the sake of their friendship which went all the back to kindergarten.

It was also what was best for the group and Rick was always mindful of that. Somehow he felt responsible for everyone and the burden was huge for him. He had wanted Shane to work alongside him and Merle to keep everyone safe and well.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

The sun was setting and this was Maggie’s favorite time of day. She always sat out on the porch when she could to watch the day end. She had gone away to college in Delaware for a year, but it wasn't the place for her. She missed the land and her family, she had a taste of city living and had found it lacking. She had come home the year before everything went down and was grateful she didn’t have to make a lonely trek home the way Lucy had to do.

Glenn joined her after a while and they sat in silence for just a little while. They hadn’t had much time to just talk since they took the run to the pharmacy which didn’t yield much of anything of value but it did change things for both of them.

It was good to have some quiet time without other people around, both of them wanted to have time to get to know each other better. So far they had only met a few times in the few weeks that they had known each other.

“I thought you were with Lucy when we first met,” Maggie laughed, “Imagine that?”

“Lots of people thought that I guess, we’re just really good friends that’s all.”

“Well,” She laughed, “I know that now.”

There were fireflies out in the field and Carol was out there with Carl and Sophia trying to catch some, like any kids would want to do on a warm summer evening. It was peaceful and it was almost easy to forget where they were and what was going on in the world.

“We’re safe here,” Glenn mused as he watched the children play, he dared to think that maybe life was getting a little bit better..

“We are,” She answered.

“Those kids are gonna sleep well tonight.”

“Yes they are,” Maggie slid her hand over to where his hand was and entwined their fingers, “It's good.” 

“Yeah it is,” He smiled at her.

“What do you miss most from...before?”

“I don’t know, life was so hectic then, now it’s slower.” He explained, “I don’t know if I miss anything to be honest.”

“What about your family?”

“Sure, I miss them, but they’re in a better place. But I don't miss anything in particular. Not really”

“That's a good way to look at it, I miss drive in movies.” Maggie said with a grin, “And popcorn with extra extra butter.”

Popcorn was not out of the question and Glenn had an idea. 

“We could do that. Run an extension cord, find a movie projector and show them on the side of the barn.”

“That’s hardly practical…” Maggie observed, but she was secretly thrilled. She had dated some of course, but no one had ever offered to go to so much trouble for her.

“Who cares, if you want a drive in movie, I’m gonna make you one.” Glenn replied as if that was the end of it, “Tomorrow night, we got a date.”

“Well, Alright,” Maggie answered with excitement and squeezed his hand. They sat out there for a while watching the kids play and holding hands, life was indeed good.


	32. 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today has been a day. xoxoxox Love you all!

They arrived at Sears first because they had been in search of a new gas generator and some supplies to store up for winter; more people on the farm meant that what Herschel had on hand for his family was not going to last. They had brought two trucks this time and they meant to fill both of them up with supplies and tools they would need in the coming months.

There was no choice but to venture out further and further from the small towns around the Greene farm. Everywhere else had been picked clean long ago. The root cellar Herschel kept filled with canned goods was getting used twice as much now, even though everyone was only eating twice a day, except the kids who got three meals a day.

Herschel’s old generator was on its last legs, there were certain things that a generator afforded them and no one wanted to rough it if they didn’t have to. Winter loomed over them like a dark cloud, this was the first of many trips they would need to take before they had enough. If they had a generator and with the three fireplaces in the house, they would be warm come winter.

Soon they would need baby things, like a crib, diapers, formula, the list was long, almost never ending. They were making lists week by week of what they needed to get and when they needed to get it. There was room made for books too on the list, anything to keep the teenagers occupied and not sneaking around being shady.

The last thing they needed was a repeat of Halloween, if Maggie hadn’t stopped the three girls they would have gotten themselves into some trouble for sure.

There was a plan on how this was going to go down, Lucy also wanted more medical things to keep in their arsenal. There was no production of anything and soon there would be nothing left. There was a CVS on the other side of the strip mall they were at and the plan was to be gone an hour or so and then meet up.

It was the hope that they’d be done and back from this errand quickly, but the parking lot was swarmed with the animated dead. It took a good hour just to make their way through, they had no choice, the next mall was an enclosed one, and they weren't trying to end up like Dawn of The Dead and get trapped there. 

All of them had people to get back to, so no chances were being taken and everything was planned down to the minute. Next time Lucy suggested hitting up a doctor's office, Lori would have the baby before they knew it and they had to be prepared.There was just so much to do and so little time it seemed. The five of them gathered around the cars to finalize their plan, while keeping track of what was lurking around.

Lucy was not trying to get her hair grabbed by one of them again, that was a lesson she wouldn’t forget. Now she wore it up on top of her head in a bun and was considering cutting it. Daryl liked the way her hair looked up and was distracted once again, being near her was akin to torture sometimes. 

They were friends again though and he was grateful that they had worked that out. It had been worse when they were apart and not talking. He never wanted to go through that again. The end of the world had taught Daryl that he needed people, even if he didn’t want to.

“Ok so we’ll meet up in two hours at the most,” Merle instructed as they stood there in the parking lot after clearing it of the dead, “Lucy keep him out of trouble.” He winked at her.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl and Lucy took off in one direction and Merle Andrea and Rick went the other way with plans to meet back up in two hours. The trio were going to Sears to look for the generator and Lucy wanted to look for more antibiotics and medicine so they headed to a pharmacy.

“I want to get cough meds and tami flu, cold and flu season is coming and we don’t have a hospital to rely on, one bad flu could wipe us all out.” Lucy pulled a list out of her back pocket. She had been making lists of what they needed for weeks.

“Ok Nurse Ratched,” Daryl teased.

“Laugh all you want, someone has to think of this shit.” She countered, “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

“I know, it’s just fun to bust your balls cause you get all riled up,” He opened the door, making sure to tap on it to find out if there was anything lurking in the dark store.

“Jerk,” She laughed.

“You love it…” He answered.

The store was dark, with just the afternoon sun for light through the windows, and he didn’t like walking into places he couldn’t clearly see. Daryl was hyper aware of his surroundings at all times now since he and Lucy had met with that guy on the road to the CDC.

No one was going to put them in that situation ever again. 

They could hear something growling in the darkness as they entered the store and Daryl insisted on going first. There was one lone walker in the store that they could see. He shot it swiftly in the head but there was still growling coming from the back of the store, once they got there they’d take care of that, first things first.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Lucy grabbed a basket and headed back to the pharmacy area in the store. As she went by the pharmacist, who was stuck on a rack of sunglasses she casually knifed it in the head and continued to the back where the medications she wanted were stored.

Daryl watched as she picked up bottles, read them and then either put them in her basket or back on the shelf. She was smart as fuck and he stood there for a second just watching her. He had made a huge mistake and she had forgiven him, it wasn’t the same between them though. 

They were getting there slowly and he was content with that. This was so new to him, he had never spent so much time with one woman before, he had never wanted to. He had never spent so much time looking at a woman before, he had every curve of her face memorized, the slope of her neck and the way her hair hung down in tendrils around it made his heart thump right out of his chest.

“What are you looking at?” Lucy asked without turning to face him.

“You…” He answered simply and he saw her grin even though she wouldn't look at him, “Just admiring the view…”

“Get to work Dixon…” She laughed.

“Like your hair that way…” He muttered and went about finding the things on his list.

He hoped eventually she would trust him again, and he would make sure that if she did, he’d never let her down again. She had trusted him with everything and he had pushed her away cruelly, he didn’t blame her one bit for being cautious. Little by little they were working their way back to each other though.

But that was a worry for another day. He combed the isles looking for anything that he could think of to bring back and stash for the winter. The store had been picked over pretty well, but there were still things on the shelves.

Daryl’s back was turned from the door and he didn’t see the car pull in right in front of the door. Lucy happened to glance over to him and it was a good thing she did. She saw what was happening outside and it wasn't good.

“Oh shit Daryl,” Lucy called and pointed to the four men getting out of the car, one of them was a familiar face too. The men were dicking around and lit up cigarettes like they had all the time in the world and Daryl practically flew to the back of the store where she was.

“Get down,” He dove over the counter and grabbed her by the waist to get them down and out of the way. They hit the floor hard and he was on top of her, “You ok?” He whispered and Lucy nodded as he rolled off of her and pulled her backwards. 

Daryl skittered across the floor with her in his arms to look for another door just as the bell over the door rang and the men entered. This was not going to happen again, no fucking way.

“That was fucking Ed Peltier with those guys!” He hissed in her ear.

“Shit,” Lucy whispered back, “Talk about dumb luck.”

Daryl pulled her closer and behind him up against the far wall, there was no door out. Just a door to the mall, and it was on the other side of the counter. They were stuck, and he wasn’t chancing a damn thing this time.

He could easily pick off one guy with the crossbow but then the other guys would have warning and could either shoot at them or go after Lucy and he wasn’t having that. Ed was holding a grudge for sure and he had never liked Lucy because she was “mouthy” he once said.

Funny how that was what Daryl loved most about her. 

The men were loud and obnoxious, and really didn’t seem to be there with any purpose except to get condoms. They made lewd comments and each time they spoke Daryl tightened his grip on Lucy. They were not good people, Ed had found his tribe.

Lucy could see the sweat beading on the back of Daryl's neck and he backed them up more so that they were out of sight. He kept her safe behind him the whole time holding his breath, almost afraid to breathe.

It seemed like the men had been in the store for hours eating food and leaving half of it to rot, knocking over shelves and pocketing all the condoms in the store.

“What a bunch of creeps,” Lucy whispered and Daryl put his hand over her mouth.

“Be still,” He breathed into her ear.

Daryl just prayed they got what they wanted and got the hell out of there. If the men wanted drugs they would be found and then he would fight to the death to defend her, but until then, they waited. 

****Nothings gonna hurt you baby, as long as you’re with me you’ll be just fine****


	33. 33

“SHHhhhhhhhh,” Daryl pulled her back farther behind the cash register just as two of the men came towards the back of the store. This was his worst nightmare, once again. There was no way anyone was coming near her, it would be over his dead body. 

His terror over something happening to her was real and Daryl pulled her close against him, rocking slowly willing them to go away. There were four of them, with weapons and one had a grudge against him in particular.

If only there was a back door.

They both held their breath as the two men scavenged the store and then were joined by the third, Ed remained outside it seemed. The trio came dangerously close to where Daryl and Lucy were hiding but never passed the counter since it didn’t even occur to them to look for medications.

These guys were going to fail apocalypse 101 for sure. You needed more than half a bag of pretzels and 75 condoms to make it in this world. It would have been comical if they weren’t in this situation.

Daryl still kept a death grip on her and scooted them farther away and behind some boxes, almost to the storage area. He quickly looked around for a back door, but there wasn’t one. He pulled Lucy close against him, wrapping her hands around his back and shielding her, willing this horror show to be over.

They could hear them dumping things out and singing old classic rock songs like they were drunk in a bar. These were not good people and Daryl and Lucy were going to have to wait this shit show out.

Lucy struggled and Daryl held her tight. 

"No,no,no,no," Daryl pulled her close, willing them to just go away. 

They did take a lot of the stuff that Lucy had planned to grab, but they didn’t touch the baby things, so that would still be possible. But they were like wild animals the way they came through the store, opening food, taking one bite and dropping it on the floor.

It pissed Lucy off that they were littering, and being wasteful; there was no reason to do that shit. People used these times to act like they always wanted to act and a lot of the times that was crude. 

The waste of food was what annoyed her most of all, even more than the grandiose stealing of the condoms.

They ran rampant through the store, knocking shelves over and acting like wild animals for ten minutes at least. Ed was outside as a look out it seemed and all Lucy could think about was Carol and Sophia. 

Hopefully Rick, Merle, and Andrea were way out of sight too.

“Come on Ace, The governor is waiting…” The third guy hollered.

“Alright, alright,” He bellowed, “But I gotta drain the monster before we go.” He reached for his zipper.

From behind the counter Lucy whispered to Daryl, “Asshole…” And he put his hand over her mouth again.

“Can’t you zip your mouth for five seconds?” He hissed as the first guy dropped his pants and proceeded to take a piss on a magazine rack nearby, ruining all the books Lucy hadn't gotten a chance to look at yet. Daryl tightened his grip on Lucy and would not take his hand off her mouth.

“That's a fucked up thing to do, you know some people actually know how to read…” His companion complained.

“Fuck you dickhead. You pissed on Motor Trend.” The third guy joined in.

“Come on,” Ace zipped his fly, “He don’t like to be kept waiting…”

As they walked out the last guy out was singing to himself “Hot Blooded” and that made Lucy cringe in her boots.

“What a jackass, everyone knows the only good song by Foreigner is Dirty White Boy…” She commented as she and Daryl stood up.

“Do you have an opinion on everything?” Daryl asked and she turned to him and just gave him a look of impatience.

“Pretty much,” She laughed.

“Lucky me,” Daryl rolled his eyes and shouldered his crossbow.

“Who the hell is the governor?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t fucking know,” Daryl replied, "Sounds like a douchebag."

“Don’t think I wanna know either...:” Lucy murmured as she stepped over the mess the men made, grabbed her basket and continued gathering supplies.

///////////////////////////////////////

On the other side of the mall and out of sight of the car load of men, Merle, Rick and Andrea waited and waited, staying out of sight because they saw the two trucks roll up on the pharmacy where Daryl and Lucy had gone. They men driving came in like bats out of hell and the three of them peered out the window of the Sears store they were in. 

“Who the fuck are those yahoos?” Rick asked as they ran to the truck they had all loaded up.

“Never mind them, look over there,” Andrea pointed to the sky which looked foreboding and dangerous and it was headed their way. There was a storm on the way and it looked to be a doozy.

“Great, just great, we’re about to star in my favorite movie,” Merle laughed.

“Twister is your favorite movie,” Andrea remarked as they ran for the truck.

“Well, yeah,” He laughed, “What’s yours?”

“Frozen,” She laughed, “Do they know where to meet us?”

“We’ll come back, it’s getting dark and we need to out run this bitch or find a place to ride out this storm.”

“Remind me to grab walkie talkies tomorrow, we could have really used those today.” Rick mused as they drove out of the parking lot, hoping to outrun the storm and find a place to bunk down for the night.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Daryl and Lucy waited until they were sure the three men were gone. They jerked around outside shooting cans that they lined up on cars in the parking lot and stirred up every dead thing within five miles. As they looked outside, the parking lot was overrun again as the men peeled out, burning rubber and smoking their tires. 

“What a bunch of idiots,” Lucy complained, "I am not telling Carol we saw him."

"Neither am I." Daryl replied.

The sky got dark all of the sudden and it wasn’t like you could look at a weather app and see what was coming your way. It was the early fall, still warm as hell and thunderstorms were always a possibility.

When Lucy and Daryl came outside, well after the designated meet up time, it was windy and hailing. That only meant one thing, a tornado was coming.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed and pushed her back inside, “You see that green sky?”

“Tornado?” 

“Come on, we ain’t getting anywhere that way,” He pulled her back into the store and they ran out the back into the mall proper. The inside loop was the safest place, where the restaurants were.

They took off running before they were seen by any of the straggler walking dead in the mall proper, and ended up inside a restaurant. Daryl secured the door behind them and lit his lighter to see what was what there.

“Welcome to Applebees, home of the two dollar, watered down long island iced tea, and shitty mojitos.” Daryl laughed as he put a bolt in the two bartenders dressed in striped shirts that were stuck there.

“I always loved the sampler platter here and the margarita’s,” Lucy laughed, remembering days gone by, when you could go to a restaurant to eat. It seemed so long ago, the world was a different place then.

Daryl had not been a fan of the place and just huffed, people went on dates to places like this and he wouldn’t have been caught dead here before the turn.

Once they made sure the place was safe and there were no surprises, Daryl locked the outside doors as well, while the wind roared outside.

"This is going to be a shit show," Lucy observed as they listened to the destruction taking place outside and said a silent prayer for Merle, Rick and Andrea’s safety.

He rolled his eyes, "Wonderful."

“How will we find them?”

“Merle knows that whenever we got separated in the woods we would head east in a straight line, he’ll wait.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Does he have a compass? Do you?”

“Don’t need one sugar,” He pointed to his head, “It’s all up here.”

“Alright, I’m thirsty, what’s your poison?” Lucy asked as she made her way to the bar proper and lifted the gate. 

“You know,” He replied.

“Yeah, I think I do,” She answered. "Remember on Lost when Sawyer and Kate played never have I ever?" Lucy asked with her eyes shining, and he had seen her like this a few times, it usually spelled trouble for him. 

Her entire face lit up with mischief as she went behind the bar and moved some stuff around, until she found what she was looking for. Sometimes she was just like a little kid when she was happy and excited. It made him smile and not many things made him smile.

“What is it with you and that show anyway, it wasn't that good.”

“First of all, yes it was and second it was my Dad’s favorite show, every Tuesday morning he would call me and we’d talk about what happened,” She paused, then added, “He would have liked you.”

Daryl was taken aback by her words, the idea of someone’s father approving of him was way out of his wheelhouse. He was Dixon trash because of his father, but clearly she thought differently.

“I think the two of you would have gotten along just fine.” Lucy continued, “He was a Ford guy too.”

He reached for her across the bar and placed his arm over her shoulders, “I know you miss him.”

“Yeah, I do,” She laid her head on his shoulder for a minute then she was back to what she was doing, “So do you remember? The game?”

Daryl just shook his head amidst the clinking of glasses, and sighed loudly, because he knew she was going to have him playing that game soon enough, Merle would say she was leading him around by his dick, and it was true, "Yeah, live together or die alone right?"

Lucy rummaged around the back of the bar until she pulled out the Jack Daniels, his favorite. Daryl rolled his eyes, whenever she and he started drinking the truth always came out and he wasn’t quite ready for it yet.


	34. 34

“This is stupid,” Daryl said as they sat on the stools at the bar, but Lucy wasn’t having it. She poured them two shots and set the bottle on the counter between them. They were comfortable with each other again, and they didn’t fight any more. They had a true friend ship now, despite everything and cared about each other. 

“You got your whiskey, this is on…” She grinned and he couldn’t resist those dimples of hers and she knew it, “You need to lighten up, Dixon. Have some fun for once.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Daryl huffed.

“I believe that you have noted that before,” She laughed, "I’ll start, never have I ever told a lie," They both drank, "You're turn." 

"Are we gonna play spin the bottle next," He teased. 

"Go," She held her glass up at him.

"Never have I ever played this dumb game before," Lucy drank and Daryl laughed, "Figures." He did enjoy their banter and he had missed her, he’d follow her wherever she led him now.

"Never have I ever, boosted a car," Lucy raised her glass and they both drank. Then she refilled the glasses with a chuckle, almost spilling it all over the place. They had both stolen cars, who would have guessed it.

"Hammered already?” He raised his eyebrow at her and she shook her head.

“Go,” She answered.

“Never have I ever gotten drunk on whiskey," Daryl said trying to make it easy and they both drank. 

“Never have I ever smoked pot,” They both drank.

“Never have I ever...gotten a DWI,” Daryl said and neither of them drank. This was an interesting way to get to know her he supposed, and to get loaded; they were well on their way there. 

“Never have I ever had an STD,” Lucy laughed. Neither of them drank and Daryl continued, feeling the effects now just a bit. 

“Never have I ever cheated on a test,” He said, and Lucy drank, their glasses were empty again and this time Daryl poured.

He was getting lit already and he gave fuck all about it. 

“Never have I been in jail,” Lucy drank and Daryl didn’t. 

“You’ve been in jail,” Daryl laughed. As always just when he thought he had her all figured out, something would come out of left field and totally floor him.

“Disorderly person at a protest march,” She answered like it was nothing and he just shook his head, she was so full of surprises and he never knew what to expect next. “Never have I ever had a three way,” Lucy giggled and neither of them drank at first, then to her surprise, with a roll of his eyes Daryl did drink and Lucy burst out laughing,"Whaaaat?"

"It ain't all it's cracked up to be…too much work." Daryl answered with a shrug.

Lucy just about died laughing, Daryl would have been embarrassed if it was anyone but her. The only people that ever knew about it were him and the two girls he picked up for the night. Who he of course never saw again.

"Never have I ever, stood someone up," Daryl challenged and Lucy drank. 

"Never have I ever fucked outside," They both drank.

"Never have I ever fucked in a jacuzzi," Lucy drank.

"Never have I ever given road head," Lucy said and neither of them drank. 

"Never have I gotten road head," And neither of them drank. 

“Never have I ever been tied up sexually,” Lucy drank and so did Daryl and they both raised their eyebrows at each other. 

”Never have I ever been married,” Daryl stated trying to get them back into normal questions, and not sex questions so his dick would calm th fuck down. He was getting turned on just talking about it in obscure terms, he needed to change the subject fast.

Daryl was surprised when Lucy drank then shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t going to add anything to the story it seemed and just skipped over it. But Daryl was curious as fuck now.

“Never have I ever been in love…” Lucy continued, and neither of them drank.

“Wait a minute...wait a minute. I can’t let this go. You mean to tell me that you were married and you didn’t love him?”

“His name was Anthony and he was a hospice patient, first born Italian boy, only son, big family. He was dying and he wanted his widowed mother to have the joy of seeing him get married before he died. I was his nurse…after that I left hospice and went to work in the ER. But I did care about him."

Daryl was struck speechless and he loved her then, “Clearly you did.”

He had a new appreciation of who she was, and what kind of person she had been before the turn. He had always known that she was special; then he took a leap of faith and a drink.

“I didn’t ask a question,” She laughed as she poured him another shot.

“I've been in love,” He met her eyes and it was clear to her what he was saying.

“You have?” She murmured, “How do you know?”

“I just know…” 

“That isn’t anything you should say unless you're absolutely sure…”

“I am…” He answered, “Absolutely sure.”

“Oh…100%?” The alcohol had made both of them loose and they were feeling good. Daryl hoisted himself off the bar stool and stood in front of her. 

“I’m so sorry I hurt you…” He began as he got closer to her, "Forgive me."

“Don’t ever do it again…”

"I won't. I promise I will never, ever hurt you again."

Lucy nodded, “Ok."

He got closer to her, placing his hands on her hips and kissed her, nice and soft, sweet. Lucy wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her. It was so sweet to have her in his arms again after such a long absence. Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist, desperate to get as close as possible. They kissed that way for a while until the heat between them became too much to bear.

Daryl turned and knocked all of the stuff off the bar, then grabbed her and had her sitting up there before she knew what happened. Then his hands were on her inner thighs, moving them apart so he could be closer to her. His hands went to the buttons on her shirt and she pulled him closer by his belt loops

“I’m gone dicking around Lucy, we’re back together…” He brought his lips to her neck and placed three kisses from her collar bone to her ear.

“We were never a thing,” She teased even as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, every time we get stuck somewhere we can’t keep our hands off each other, it’s a thing…”

Then he was kissing her, it had been weeks since they had been together and she yielded to him completely. She allowed him to slip her shirt off of her shoulders as he just stared at her with lust hooded eyes.

”It’s a big thing…Lulu,” He murmured as he buried his face in her hair. 

"Don't call me Lulu,"

"I'll call you whatever you like…"

“Lucy is fine…”

His hands were all over her then while his lips traveled down her neck and she was unbuckling his pants before she knew what she was doing in a total fever of need that she never had with anyone else. Lucy had never been so aggressive, and wanted someone the way she wanted him.

This was all so new to her, he was dangerous and so exhilarating, not like any other man she had even been with.

Daryl pulled his shirt over his head so he could get closer still to her, skin to skin, he needed it like air. He never wanted to be close to anyone, but he couldn’t get enough of her.

Her nails raked down his back as her hands traveled over his hard body and she was finally home, where she belonged. His mouth was hot and wet against her skin, Lucy was dizzy with feeling and wild, animal emotion, there was no going back and they both let out a moan of total bliss. He could feel her boots against his ass and it made his cock ache to be inside her.

“Oh God sweetheart, I missed you so much.” He moaned against her neck, and she felt his teeth as he bit her flesh softly and she arched into him more. Her nails dug into his back as Daryl pulled down her jeans, then got her boots off until she was sitting there just in her underwear.  
He shucked down his jeans, kicked off his boots and was against her in just his boxers in a second. It was sweet torture and Daryl groaned low in his throat, “Fuuuuuuuckkkk.”

“Mmmmmmmmmm.” Was all she could manage as she felt his hips rolling against hers, his cock was hard and inviting, he teased her with it, pushing it against her until she couldn’t take it anymore. Daryl plunged his hands into her hair and breathed in her scent that was so familiar and welcome to him. “I fucking love you.” She shrieked, “Give it to me now!”

“I knew it. I knew it,” He cried out as he yanked off her panties, got his boxers down a bit and entered her to the hilt, bottoming out in one stroke. 

“Oooooffffffff,” The air was knocked out of her and Lucy wrapped her legs around him tighter, “Oh Jesus!” She cried out and Daryl let out a deep moan as he kissed her hard again, shoving his tongue in her mouth, then his lips were on her neck and sucking hard, “Oh fuck,” She moaned as she pulled him closer to her.

“Say you're mine, mine forever.” He whispered against her skin, as he fucked her nice and slow, “Say it!”

“I’m yours, I’m yours I promise.” She breathed out as he pushed against her faster, rocking them against the old bar that was squeaking and neither of them noticed. “Forever.”

“Say it again,” He demanded, slamming into her harder and harder; it sounded like the place was going to fall down around them and they didn’t notice it at all, they were both so lost to each other.

“Only you.”

“Only me.” He gasped out, pulling her hips against his as she yanked his hair and scratched her nails over his skin making him groan out loud.

“Only you.” She repeated trying to wiggle against him, chasing the fire that was consuming her right down to her soul. “Only you.”

“Tell me no one ever made you feel like this.” 

“Only you make me feel this way.” She gasped, “You’re the one, you’re the one.”

He kissed her hard, reclaiming her and he wasn’t done yet. “Tell me again.” He pulled her close against him, skin to skin, as his hand reached down between them.

“Never anyone else but you.” And that was the truth. “Only you make me feel this way, it’s always been you.”

Between the magic he was working with his hand, the feel of his skin on hers and the rest of him, she felt the pressure starting to build fast and he knew it was coming. 

“Now cum.” He demanded. “Cum on me Lucy, cum on me, cum on me! Come on baby...” His voice trailed off, “Come on…”

Daryl set out to push all her buttons and his words drove her body towards what he wanted and she felt it. She felt it deep in her core and in her soul, as he was bringing her where she wanted to be. His hand moved over her nipple like he had been doing it forever and then he followed that with his lips all the while still pounding her against the bar.

Nothing was stopping the total mind numbing, screaming, yelling, cursing passion that spread like a wildfire between them and would never be put out again. It was savage, they were wild as they gripped each other tight, Daryl pulled out slow, then pushed back inside her hard.

“Oh god I need it!” Lucy gasped out, her hair was in her face, wet with sweat, as was Daryl's too, “Oh, please don’t stop…”

“Do it, fucking do it.” He growled.

“Oh my God! Daryl! Fuckkkkk,” She moaned as he kissed her “Fuck me, ohmygod yes.”

Then it was happening and she couldn’t stop it. It was like a tidal wave crashing over her and Lucy cried out and pulled him close against her. He slammed his hips against her as her body pulled his over the edge right after her.

“Oh fuck I’m cumming, oh fuck Lucy!” He swore as her pussy squeezed the hell out of his dick and he came harder than he had in years. “Goddammit, fuck, fuck,fuck yes, fuck yes ahhhhhh.”

They stayed that way for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath, holding each other and then he let her down and held her. She lay her head on his shoulder and pulled him against her. 

"I love you too," She murmured, "I meant what I said." 

“So did I,” And he didn’t let go of her for a long time, "I'm never leaving you."


	35. 35

They were up early the next morning, sleeping on the floor of Applebee’s was not the most comfortable of accommodations but it was fine.They had both had worse. As they walked through the mall with the baskets full of medicines and baby formula they talked things over and made some plans.

Lucy thought they should try and reinforce the fences on Herschel’s farm if he agreed. It would take a long time to finish but it could make them all feel safer in the long run, Daryl agreed with her. They did agree on a lot of things it seemed, and she was right, they would be a great team.

Daryl even ventured to hold her hand as they left the Applebee’s, for him that was a big thing, another first. There were so many things he wanted to experience with her, he wanted to give her everything.

On the way out Lucy noticed a game store and ran in real quick to grab a few games, and Dungeons and Dragons; they had not been able to get any books because the guy pissed all over them. She had ranted to Daryl about that again the night before, still unable to believe they had done that.

“So now we’re really doing this?” Lucy asked,”You aren't going to…”

“No,” He cut her off, “I’m not.”

“I’m not here for it, if you change your mind a third time, there won't be a fourth. I don't care how good you throw it down, I won't be played with like that,” Lucy began as they stopped for a second in the CVS to check one more time before going. Then they headed outside to look around, no one was in sight either living or dead.

“You have my word, it’s you and me from now on, no matter what.”

“I don’t need you…”

“Yeah you do.” He grinned and grabbed her, pulling her closer, and holding her at the small of her back. He ran his nose over her neck, smelling her hair, tickling her, then placed three soft kisses on her neck, and let his hands slide down to cup her ass.“We should go look for a bed in that mall, we can really get it in a bed. You remember that night on the way to the CDC.”

"Should have thought of that last night Romeo." She laughed.

"Coulda, woulda, shoulda," He pulled her closer, crooning into her ear, "Problem was I couldn't wait to find a bed last night."

His mouth was hot against her skin as he made his way up her neck until they were forehead to forehead and she was almost convinced when they heard tires squeal into the lot and Merle hollered out the window of the truck.

“Alright, alright, don't make me throw a hose on ya’s, lets go!”

Daryl flipped him the bird as they walked to where the car that Rick and Lucy had driven in was parked. In the back of the truck was a generator and a freezer, along with various tools and some fencing. 

“You get everything you needed?” Merle cackled.

Daryl gave him a curt nod as they followed along with the truck until they got to the other truck. Daryl held the door for her and she got in. Then he slid behind the wheel of the truck and started it.

The ride back had been uneventful, they stopped for gas and to stretch their legs and that was when it all went to shit. Lucy was walking past a shelf in a convenience store filled with canned goods and something behind it moved, causing the whole shelf to fall on her. 

Daryl gasped out when he heard the racket and went running to her, she was out cold and bleeding from her head.

“Oh shit, shit.” He picked her up and came out of the store to the horrified look on Andrea’s face as she ran towards them, followed by Merle and Rick.

“Oh my god, oh my god what happened?”

“Something fell on her, hit her in the fucking head it looks like.”

Lucy was bleeding from her head and not moving, “She’s breathing right?” Andrea asked and Daryl nodded vigorously as he got her to the car, “I’ll drive, you get back there with her.”

“She’s gonna be so pissed when she wakes up brother,” Merle’s words were meant to make him feel better but it didn’t help as he laid her on the backseat and Daryl got in there to cradle her head in his lap.

They loosened her jacket and Andrea got behind the wheel of the car followed by Rick and Merle in the truck. Daryl checked to make sure she was breathing, took her pulse and ran his fingers through her hair trying to will her to wake up.

“Come on baby, wake up,” He held her close to him the whole way home. He couldn’t believe this had happened just when they had finally worked out their problems. 

///////////////////////////////////////////

“Yeah she got taken out by a rack of pork and beans…” Merle explained to everyone as Daryl carried Lucy out of the car and up the stairs of the Greene house. She was still out cold and Marylee came running out of the door as he brought her inside and carried her to the back bedroom where Carl had recovered.

“What happened,” Marylee cried as she followed him.

“Shelf fell,” He laid her down gently on the bed, “She’s breathing and her heart rate is good.”

Herschel was in the room next with his doctor’s bag, “How long has she been out? Did you need to do CPR?”

“About two hours and, no she never stopped breathing and had a pulse the whole time.” Daryl answered.

“Ok son, back up and let me in there, she’s gonna be just fine.” Herschel reassured. Daryl stepped aside and Lori was behind him, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Behind them Beth and Amy were hugging Marylee who sobbed softly.

Herschel checked her pupils and did a few other neuro checks on her as Daryl and the girls watched. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////

“You gonna dump her again when she wakes up?” Merle asked later that night as he walked out to where Daryl sat on the porch smoking cigarette after cigarette with shaking hands. He could see Daryl was upset, but Merle was trying to give him something else to think about. He had never seen Daryl’s hands shake like that.

“Why you gotta be that way, huh?”

“I’m just saying…”

“No Merle,” Daryl answered, “She and I are solid, I just can’t believe I wasted so much time…”

“Then don’t waste anymore time…” Merle held out his hand, in it was a wedding band, a plain gold band and Daryl recognized it right away. He hadn’t seen that ring in years.

“What are you doing with that?” Daryl couldn’t hide his surprise, he didn’t know Merle even had the rings.

“Had it in my side bags all this time, Lucy doesn’t strike me as a diamond ring girl, so if you agree I’ll give Andrea Mom’s engagement ring and you can give Lucy the band?”

Merle placed the ring in Daryl’s hand, “I don’t think we’re there yet Merle…”

“That’s ok, you will be, so you hang on to that, M’kay.” Merle answered, “She's gonna be just fine.”

Merle placed his arm over Daryl’s shoulders and encouraged him to put the ring in his pocket to save it for another day. He looked at it for a few minutes, the last time he saw the rings it was in a safety deposit box at the bank. Merle had hid it from their father for years to prevent him from hocking both rings for more booze.

“Went back for them when the shit started hitting the fan bad, didn’t really know why, until a few weeks ago.”

They were quiet for a second and then Daryl spoke again.

“I love her…”

“Did you tell her that, or have you still been being an idiot.”

“I told her,” He assured his brother, this was all still so new for Daryl and between his feelings and her being hurt his head was still spinning.

“Good, I’m proud of you,” Merle replied.


	36. 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm meh about this chapter but here it is LOL

Daryl sat by Lucy’s bed and refused to budge. No one said a thing, who would dare tell him he couldn’t; he gave fuck all anyway, he crawled into bed with her after a while and held her in his arms. Her breathing was steady and Herschel said she would likely wake up within 24 to 48 hours. But Daryl cried anyway, for her, for him and for all the time he had wasted.

His fingers went automatically to her hair, he ran them through it softly, pushed her hair out of her face lovingly as Merle and Rick stood there in the doorway. They felt like voyeurs watching Daryl trying to make her comfortable and hold her close to him. Merle had never seen his brother so broken before.

“Come on, let's leave him be,” Rick said, placing a hand on Merle’s shoulder and Merle followed him out; Daryl didn’t even notice they left.

Merle’s heart was breaking for his little brother who never had anything good in his life and now was possibly losing the person who meant the most to him. Could fate be so cruel as to have Lucy cross his path just to take her away again. It could, Merle knew from experience that life was a shit show sometimes.

Merle knew all too well that life was not fair and sucked most of the time, Lucy had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, that was all. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen to Daryl if she didn’t make it. He saw Andrea in the kitchen making coffee on the stove in an old percolator and said a silent prayer of thanks that she was OK.

Herschel sat at the kitchen table and Merle sat down opposite him. Rick grabbed cups and Andrea brought the coffee and sat down as well. 

“Will she be OK?” Merle asked Herschel.

“If she wakes up within a day or two yes, otherwise, I don’t know…”

The four of them sat there drinking coffee, wondering what else they could do. Soon they would have to tell the others and no one wanted to tell Glenn. Luckily he and Maggie were out in the woods checking snares that they had set. It wasn’t night time yet, the house was quiet. Amy, and Beth had taken Marylee out for a walk before she lost her mind.

As Daryl laid there with Lucy he thought about things, and how they drove each other nuts at the quarry. It had been almost fun, he could admit that now, she lit up his dashboard, as Merle would say. The fighting and the banter had just fueled the fire between them. Now he realized that attention from her, negative or not was what spurred him on in those early days.

Lucy might argue with him and say she didn’t do the same thing but she did and it made him smile. She would never admit that. He grinned at the thought of their early time together, neither of them had known what was happening to them.

Daryl spoke to a God he wasn’t even sure he believed in, pleading for her to be alright. He promised to treat her right for the rest of her life and love her for the rest of his life. It just couldn’t end like this, not when they had just finally figured it out.

If she woke up he vowed to never let dumb shit come between them again, life was too short for fights and hard feelings. He was scared to death of losing her, but not enough to let it come between them the way it had. 

He had been so hell bent on not caring and keeping her safe and in the end it hadn’t worked anyway. It was a slap to his face that he sorely needed, random things would happen, he could not control the world for her. 

Bad people existed, that was true before the turn, but he couldn’t let fear rule his life and keep him from living it. It wasn’t even a living person that did this to her anyway, it was a dumb accident with one of the dead knocking over the shelf.

Things would happen but they would get through them together. He had learned that lesson finally, but maybe it was too late. He couldn’t let himself think that way, so he held her tight as the sun started going down.

Daryl wanted to be the first person she saw when she woke up, so he wasn’t leaving her side. There was so much to do and he didn’t care about any of it. He watched the rise and fall of her chest counting her breaths, begging her to come back to him. He had so much to tell her and he began by whispering in her ear; I love you, I’ll love you forever, I’ll never leave you, please wake up. I need you. I need you so much.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Carol and Lori got their heads together and went to see Rick to let him know in the melee that Shane had left. Rick and Merle were on the porch trying to figure out their next moves and if they would need to go look for things for Lucy. Rick waved to Lori and dreaded what they were going to have to tell her, he had to leave again if there was something needed for Lucy. He and Merle had decided not to try and pry Daryl away from her right now. He was too broken by what had happened.

Rick understood Daryl, when he thought Lori and Carl were dead he was beside himself with grief. Walking up on them that day at the camp after Atlanta had been such a dream come true for him, because he had been living his worst nightmare.

Now at least when he looked down off the porch he saw everyone he loved, who he had once thought he lost. He silently prayed that Lucy would be ok, for Daryl’s sake and for his own, he genuinely liked her, and they had been so lucky so far. Lucy could not be their first loss, she just couldn’t be.

Carl and Sophia were playing together down by the tents oblivious to the drama that was happening and the two women meant to keep it that way. Lori hadn’t even told Carl that Shane left. Now that Rick was back that would have to be addressed, and soon.

“This is a fucking nightmare,” Carol said as they both walked up the driveway, “Why did he pick now to do this crap.”

“Because he’s a big baby, that’s why,” Lori replied as she stopped and turned to Carol, “It's all my fault…”

“No, no,” Carol wrapped her arms around her, “Whatever happened, happened, now you deal with it. We all deal with it together.”

“Do you think worse of me? Does everyone?”

“I don’t and if anyone else does...fuck em.” Carol answered with a shrug. Lori burst out laughing at that, Carol was no longer the quiet door mouse she had once been. This tickled Lori like nothing had since this all went down.

“Thank you,” She threw her arms around Carol, and her shoulders sagged in relief, Carol was the first person that actually verbalized how she was feeling. She and Rick were trying to work things out but the horse was out of the barn and everything was fucked.

Rick and Merle were up on the porch and when he turned and saw her coming closer Rick ran down the stairs to Lori and pulled her into a hug that reminded her of when they were first married.

“We’re gonna be fine,” He breathed into her hair, “We’re gonna be fine.”

As Lori sobbed into Rick’s shoulder Carol continued towards the porch to tell Merle the news. He had news for her too and it wasn’t good.

///////////////////////////////////////////

Carol went right to Daryl who was sitting next to Lucy’s bed and just placed her hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there. She didn’t say a word, she didn’t need to. He had been there for her during her darkest times and she was going to let him know she was there for him.

This world was so cruel to the best people it seemed to Carol, she stayed with Daryl for a few minutes and then slipped out unnoticed.

///////////////////////////////////////////

No one noticed a few hours later Beth, Marylee and Amy went out the back door through the kitchen. They snuck passed Rick and Merle who were patrolling the perimeter and Dale who was on top of the RV in a camp chair, but he had nodded off.

The girls were heading to town to look around for something to help Lucy, Beth knew the way and they planned to be back before dark. Lucy had a head injury and Marylee knew that Lucy’s migraines were going to be worse when she woke up. She had to do something to help her sister and not be a waste of space. Lucy used to take Imitrex, maybe there was some left at the pharmacy.

It was silly, but to her fifteen year old self who needed to do something to help her sister, it made perfect sense.


	37. 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, it's been a rough week. xx Krissy

Maggie and Glenn returned with nothing to show for their trouble, the snares had not caught anything, but that wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day. Oblivious to that at the time they just continued on; they just reset them and decided to go back the next day. It was silent as the grave at the farm when they arrived, and no one was around except Merle and Rick in the distance on watch. It was almost dark and there were lights coming from the house but not any noise which was odd. 

Usually there was someone around outside, kids goofing off and people doing chores; there was no one outside, and Maggie's blood ran cold. The kids usually played until they were called inside for dinner and then, after eating they went outside again. The three teenage girls were nowhere in sight either, but Beth’s window was open and Maggie could see the lights on. That didn’t necessarily worry her at the time, but other things were just off.

In the few weeks since the Quarry group arrived, they had settled into sort of a routine and it was all out of whack this night. No one was where they usually were and it worried her.

Part of her wanted to run across the field to see what was going on because it was eerie how quiet it was at dinner time. The kids weren’t out front playing like they usually did and no one was cooking over the fires.

The group that went on the run was back, Glenn saw the cars and pointed them out to Maggie, maybe they were just inside unpacking Glenn assured her. She wanted it to be so but as they came in the back door and into the kitchen it was silent as the grave. Carl and Sophia were at the table coloring, Lori and Carol were with them.

“What’s going on?” Maggie asked, “I saw the trucks, are they back?”

Lori nodded, but her eyes were big and sad, “They’re back…”

Maggie could tell right away that something was wrong, no one else was around and Lori and Carol looked like they had lost their best friend. Quickly she looked around for her father and Beth, both were not there and panic rose up inside of her uncontrollably. 

“Whose dead?” Maggie cried as she turned and saw Daryl standing in the doorway and her brain connected the dots one by one to a horrifying conclusion, “Oh my God!”

Glenn stopped short right behind Maggie as they approached him and looked at Daryl’s face, he was broken, that was all too clear, “She ain’t dead…” He growled.

Then he went down the hall followed by Maggie and Glenn close behind him. Glenn couldn’t shake the feeling that Lucy was bit and he didn’t want to look in the room. He lingered at the door praying it wasn’t so, gripping Maggie’s hand like a vice.

“Is she bit?” He gasped out.

“No,” Daryl reassured, “No, but...it’s bad.”

“Oh shit,” Glenn turned to follow Daryl back into the bedroom. Afraid to step over the threshold Glenn and Maggie just stood in the doorway and Lucy looked so small laying there in the bed.

“Oh my God…” Glenn gulped out when he saw her pale face and the blood. There was a wound on her head and her right eye was black as if someone punched her. There was still blood in her hair and it had dried on the pillow she was laying on.

“A shelf fell on her. She hit her head on the concrete.”

“She’s gonna be ok right?” Glenn asked as Maggie took his hand, “What did Herschel say?”

“He hopes so, says it's a concussion, I have to watch her, make sure no liquid comes out of her ears or nose, we might need medication or an IV for her, she’s gonna be ok,” Daryl replied, as if saying it out loud would bring it into existence, then added, “She will be.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

The group of them stayed in the room quietly discussing what Lucy might need and how they could help. Herschel said he might need Solumedrol and wrote it down for Maggie and Glenn to go look for it. Daryl grew impatient with all of them, but he tried like hell to not lose it again. Soon everyone but him went back to the kitchen and it was he and Lucy in the room again. Daryl sat down and laid his head on her chest, pulling her close to him.

Herschel said there were medications he might need, but Daryl was told by Rick that whatever Lucy needed they would go find. He had to trust them, because he was not leaving her side. He had turned his back on her for just a second in the store and his whole world came crashing down with that shelf.

He had wasted so much time being mad or afraid and now he just wanted that time back, coulda, woulda, shoulda, that was the story of his life. When she woke up he was never letting her go again. It was ironic that they had finally worked things out and now she was hurt and possibly wouldn't recover.

But he knew he couldn’t think that way and Daryl brought his feet back up on the bed and settled himself down on the pillows, taking Lucy into his arms.

Then he laid back down next to her and brought his lips to her ear to hum and sing, willing her to come back to him. He didn’t care if chances were she couldn’t hear him, Herschel had said she might be able to and that was enough for Daryl.

****** Boogie fever  
I think it's going around*****

////////////////

If Lucy being hurt wasn’t enough of a blow, Maggie soon had other news and she was truly frantic now. She had gone up to Beth’s room to say hi and none of them were there. The three teenagers were nowhere to be found. She let out a blood curdling scream that echoed through the house that startled everyone except Lucy who still laid there in silence.

While she and Herschel were searching the inside Glenn went outside to the group that had gathered on the outside back porch. Merle, Rick and Andrea had been having a smoke and discussing another supply run. Herschel had mentioned earlier in front of Marylee that they might need IV fluids and medications if her sister’s brain started to swell.

“Guys we got a problem,” Glenn advised as he approached them.

“I know Shane took off.” Rick answered, Lori had told him the news as soon as they got back after the sad news about Lucy had been revealed.

“Marylee, Amy and Beth are missing, Herschel said Marylee was beside herself, she was upset about Lucy.”

“God dammit those fucking kids.” Merle growled, “Come on officer friendly it’s you and me…” He started down the stairs, followed by Rick, and Andrea chased after them.

“If you think I’m staying here Merle Dixon you are mistaken…”

“Come on, I know you by now.” Then the three of them were in the truck and barreling down the driveway in seconds, leaving Glenn in the dust.


	38. 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but the next few will be longer as this story is almost done. Thank you to everyone who read this and went on this journey with me xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

It was like the roof blew off the house and still Lucy didn’t move, there was yelling and screaming upstairs as Maggie and Herschel searched in vain for Beth and the other two girls. It was no use and they knew it, but hope was a powerful thing sometimes. 

Glenn ran up the stairs after Maggie and tried to console her but she was wailing. Daryl paced in the room stopping every once in a while to make sure Lucy was breathing steadily. She was and as long as she was, he had hope. He was running on adrenaline and hope now and not in that order. He had never been so wired in his whole life.

After a bit they came downstairs and Maggie was throwing on a jacket as Glenn trailed behind her. Nothing had been resolved with them but at least Maggie was calmer. Emotion was not something Daryl was used to, and ever since he was a kid when he heard fighting or loud voices it always made him feel on edge.

“Anything new,” Glenn stopped to check on Lucy before he and Maggie went out to search. As Glenn peered in at Lucy he choked up, she was his good friend and this wasn’t fair.

Daryl shook his head, “I'm sorry Glenn.”

“Sorry for what?” Glenn was confused.

“I didn’t look out for her…”

“Stop it, stop it right now…” Glenn advised, “This isn’t on you, and she's gonna be just fine.”

They were joined by Maggie after a minute or two and she had calmed down enough to have conversation. But she was clearly still agitated, she moved from foot to foot like she couldn’t stand still.

“Rick and Merle got this Maggie, maybe you guys should stay back, in case they come back.” Daryl said.

“Not a chance Daryl, I’m gonna kick their asses all the way back here,” Maggie answered. Glenn just shrugged, he knew better than to argue with her. Maggie was the most strong willed woman he had ever known next to Lucy, and Glenn was not taking a chance with either one of them.

Daryl rolled his eyes but he got it, some women were just untamed, and the men that got to love them were blessed.

“Glenn and I will go, “ Daryl began.

“No, you stay with Lucy…”

“No, she…”

“Guys, guys…” Glenn broke in and Daryl was shaking his head.

“Maggie!” Came a yell from upstairs, Herschel was fit to be tied.

Glenn, Maggie and Daryl continued to argue about what to do about the girls and if Merle, Andrea and Rick were headed the right way to find them. It was getting loud in the doorway, and Heschel came storming down the hallway ranting at the trio. 

“Instead of standing around here, I’m going looking for them.”

“No you aren't,” Maggie cried.

“Excuse me young lady!” Herschel bellowed, “ Who do you think you’re talking to? I am your father and don’t you forget it! I’ll go…”

“No, Herschel, Glenn and I will go…” Daryl began, he didn’t want to leave but he knew Lucy would want to go look for them if she could. So he would do this for her, he had to do something for her so he didn’t feel like such a failure.

“Can you all shut up, you're making my head hurt…” Came from inside the room, from a small weak voice, but still a voice. Herschel had warned everyone that the longer Lucy was unconscious the more chance of disability from her head injury, but she was talking and moving.

The three of them looked over at the bed and Lucy was pulling herself up on the pillows. Daryl flew past everyone and was at her side.

“Luce you ok?” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her all over her face right there in front of everyone. This was not something he would have done a month ago, or even a week ago, but now it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except she was awake.

“My head hurts,” She rubbed her temples.

“Do you remember what happened?” Herschel was there with a penlight checking her eyes. Lucy just shook her head.

Daryl grabbed her hands, “There’s something going on I need to tell you about but it’s going to be ok, you understand me, it’s going to be ok?”

Lucy struggled to sit up but her head still hurt so much, “Fuck my head hurts…”

“Alright, lay back down…” Herschel advised.

“Where’s my sister?” Lucy asked with growing fear when she didn’t see Marylee anywhere. Daryl tried to grab her hands but she sensed something was wrong and tried to get out of bed again.

“Shh honey…” Daryl soothed.

“What happened? What happened to my sister!!!” Daryl practically threw himself over top of her to keep her from getting out of bed and Glenn sat down and explained to her what was going on. Lucy started crying as they both tried to console her. 

From outside they heard tires squeal into the driveway and Shane’s voice yelling and screaming at someone. Maggie ran outside to the porch to see Shane opening the back of the car, and pulling the three girls out.

“Shane!” Maggie yelled, “Oh my god thank you!!!”

“Wait till I tell you what these three idiots did.”


	39. 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this one :) This is officially the longest story I have ever written.

Shane began telling the story to Rick as the older sisters got to do all of the yelling they wanted to do at their siblings. Lucy was still unsteady on her feet and Daryl was making her stay in bed, but she got into it good with Marylee. She understood that she was just trying to help but it had been reckless. They fought and there were tears on both of their parts but they ended it with a hug and Marylee crawling into bed with Lucy.

Daryl joined Rick and Shane out on the porch and lit a cigarette as the other two men talked. Marylee was with Lucy and he wanted to give them privacy and find out what Shane had actually seen.

Basically Shane stopped for supplies in the closest town and hot wired a car. A woman had been in one of the stores alone, saying that her family had all turned and she was all alone. The dead were everywhere and she had been huddled down behind a counter when Shane found her.

Her name was Marion and she was young, about Maggie’s age, and he told her he was leaving, explained he had been a cop and she was all too happy to beat it out of there with him. She had been alone for a while and he was the first kind person she had met. He could tell she was traumatized by something, either the living or the dead, but he didn’t press her.

As the pair was about to get out of dodge for good Shane saw the three girls running down the street being followed by a herd of the dead. Earlier Shane had thought he heard a helicopter and he was heading that way towards Atlanta. That must have attracted the herd as they were heading towards Atlanta too, but before they got there, they would end up on the Greene farm.

Marion knew Beth, and scolded her right away for being out, even if they had found the medications they thought Lucy would need. Marion didn’t even know who Lucy was, or the other girls she was with so she laid into Beth good over it.

Shane just rolled his eyes, he had almost made a clean break with this group.

Then Marion and the girls happened, and she was at present talking to Andrea and Maggie. It turned out she was one of the Greene neighbors and Maggie knew her well. It would have been fine, he and Marion could have just driven off into the sunset.

But then he saw the three teenagers and he couldn't do it. He was a lot of things, but he could not leave those kids out there alone nor could he not warn Rick and the others about what was heading their way. They had a day or two, tops before the fences were breached and Herschel’s farm was overrun. There were just too many of the dead headed their way.

“What the fuck are you three idiots doing out here.” He yelled as he pulled up next to the terrified girls, “Get in, this is Marion.”

“Hey Beth,” The woman replied and Shane realized they knew each other. It was indeed a small world.

The three girls jumped in gratefully and began telling their tale of trying to find the steroids that Lucy might need if her brain began to swell. Shane didn’t even know Lucy was hurt and suddenly leaving seemed like something that he needed to put off at least a little while.

“Are you out of your minds? You never, never leave the group alone…”

“But that’s what you were doing,” Beth countered, “Ain’t that right?”

“Shut your yap kid,” Shane replied as he maneuvered them out of danger in the car, and the three girls laughed at that. 

“Beth I don’t know what you were thinking,” Marion started, “But your father is gonna beat your ass.”

“Sure like he did with you and Maggie that time?” Beth countered with a giggle. Maggie and Marion had gotten into their share of trouble before the world ended and Beth was well aware of it. They had been friends for years, and Maggie had no idea her family had all been infected. Leaving with a strange man had seemed like a good idea, but in hindsight, she knew Herschel would have taken her in.

“Beth, that was different...” Marion started.

“Oh because of the pot?”

Shane could not believe what was going on in the car, Beth and Marion argued the whole way back and he had gotten an education on the pre-turn antics of Maggie Greene.

There were no coincidences in this world, it was not time for him to go.

///////////////////////////////

How could you have left?” Rick asked him as they stood out on the porch much later that night. Andrea was still giving Amy a piece of her mind and had even grounded her. It was not something she could enforce, she knew that, especially with the news the girls and Shane brought back. But Andrea was spit mad and made sure her sister knew it.

There was a herd coming bigger than the one they saw on the road weeks ago and they had to get the hell out of there before it was too late. Shane advised them of this and plans were being made. The women were packing clothes and food and the men were going to gas up the vehicles, they would leave at first light.

“Come on man.” Shane replied, “How do you expect me to stay?”

“I don’t, not if you don’t wanna, but we want you here,” Rick answered, “Me, Lori, and Carl, look man, what happened, happened. We can’t go back and change it but we can find a way to live with it.”

“That’s just it, I don’t know if I can…”

“Stay with us at least a while, try this new normal before you decide, can you do that?”

“New normal, huh?” He answered, “Guess that’s what we got now…”

“You could always leave later if you want…”

Shane couldn’t argue with his logic and they needed to get moving fast so for now at least, his plans were on hold. Once they were settled somewhere, if they settled somewhere he would revisit his plans again.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The next morning Daryl was up and had already packed his and Lucy’s meager belongings into his truck along with Merle and Andrea’s. Amy and Marylee would ride with Dale, as well as Merle and Andrea. Lucy would ride with him of course, there was no way he was letting her out of his sight now.

“Ok, I’m gonna carry you out…” Daryl leaned down to pick her up.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I can...” Lucy stood up and then wavered as she got her footing and he grabbed her up into his arms.

“Like I said...I’m gonna carry you.”

“Oh you're loving this aren't you.”

“Uh hu?” He smiled, “You have no idea…”

“Well, eat it up with a spoon Dixon because as soon as I'm not dizzy, you’re done.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” He laughed as he carried her through the door.

Merle was outside loading up the RV with Glenn when Daryl appeared on the porch with Lucy in his arms. 

“Hey brother, you’re supposed to carry your bride through the threshold, not outside…” He elbowed Glenn who couldn’t suppress a laugh.

“Fuck off Merle, I’ll carry my girl anywhere I want,” He answered as he carried her down the stairs and deposited her in his truck passenger side.

Merle leaned over to Glenn and whispered, “He’s too chicken to ask her, I gotta help him along.”


	40. Chapter 40

Life was almost normal again, almost, except for the dead, but they were safe now, really safe. It had taken a while but Glenn finally got to keep his promise to Maggie.

Daryl and Lucy walked towards the place where Glenn had set up the white sheet on the side of the prison and the film had already started. Somehow they had found a copy of Red Dawn, the original and everyone was cracking jokes about them being in their own Red Dawn, just with the dead instead of a hostile invasion. They had found the prison by accident and cleared it out in one day, all of them working side by side to get rid of the dead and make their home behind the walls.

Rick had finally found his walls, a secure place for Carl and Lori after they cleared out the actual buildings and that took a week or more. It was finally safe and all of them could finally breathe. Tonight they were all taking a long deserved break, after months on the road with nowhere to lay their heads at night. 

“Hey, Luce wait a minute.” He stopped walking and held her hand so she would stop, “I gotta.”

“What's wrong, you gotta go pee?” Lucy asked, pointing to the guard tower in front of them, Shane sat up there keeping watch over all of them with Marion, the woman he had found in the city when he had rescued the kids from the herd, “Go behind the...”

Daryl shook his head and almost regretted starting this conversation, he had tried to do it so many times before in the past few weeks once he knew that he wanted this. But he had made up his mind to do it and now that he had decided he couldn’t wait to get it over with. Most men would want to savor a moment like this, remember it, but he just wanted to be done.

“I know my timing sucks and it probably always will, but it's kind of our thing.” He gave her a shy smile. Lucy smiled back, he was right, and whatever was on his mind she knew it would be forever before he got his words out. 

They had come so far in a really short time, but he still had trouble expressing himself sometimes, they still fought, they were a work in progress. No matter what they were in it together now, stand or fall.

“Yeah it probably does but its…”

“I wanna marry you…” He cut her off so he could just get it out and be done with it. The words had been spinning around in his head since that night on the farm when Merle gave him the ring. He always knew he’d eventually ask her, but he had been carrying the ring around in his pocket for so long now

“What?” Lucy stopped short trying to process what he had just said. The Daryl that had once pushed her away had just said that? She looked over at their friends just a few yards away, was he serious? Or was she dreaming? Merle glanced over from where everyone was sitting in the grass and noted the seriousness of their conversation and quickly elbowed Andrea who was already wearing the other ring.

Merle had given it to her long ago, but every time he asked Daryl when he was going to ask Lucy his brother kept saying it wasn't the right time.

“Oh shit Andrea he’s asking her,” Merle whispered, "He's trying to put a ring on it!"

“Finally,” Andrea smiled and kissed his cheek.

Daryl stopped and turned to her, taking the ring out of his pocket, and held it up to her, “Will you?”

Not knowing what to do next Daryl put the ring in her hand and Lucy stared at it. She was half expecting it to burn her palm, this was not what she ever expected to happen. They had never talked about anything like this and it wasn’t like there were any laws anymore, or churches.

“Where did you get this?” She stammered, overwhelmed with her feelings all of the sudden. For a long time Lucy had thought she wasn’t the marrying kind, even a long term relationship was new to her. Now she slept next to Daryl every night, they weren’t perfect but they were learning and doing their best.

“Merle, it was my mom’s, he saved her rings,” Daryl answered, “He gave it to me months ago, been carrying it around in my pocket all...”

Lucy didn’t say anything for a beat and Daryl started sweating, this was a mistake, he didn’t regret asking her, but he hoped things wouldn’t be weird now between them. He didn’t blame her, this was a dumb idea, he wasn’t Merle, and it just wasn’t in the cards for him.

“Would you be wearing one?” She looked at the ring in her hand, there were no such things as weddings now, she could just slip the ring on with no fanfare and then she’d be Daryl’s wife. It still would be everything to her, if that was what she wanted, and the commitment would be just the same.

“I can…I want to...”

“Here,” She handed the ring back to him, and his face fell for a second thinking it was over between them for good this time, “You put it on me…”

Lucy held her shaking hand out as he slipped the ring on with his own shaking hands. Tomorrow he would go to town and find a ring to wear. Daryl was amazed that he could not wait to get one and put it on.

“I said I would never get married,” Lucy mused as he pulled her closer, resting his forehead to hers.

“I never even thought about it at all,” Daryl explained.

"I heard you…"

"What?"

"When I was out, I heard your voice …" She wrapped her arms around him, “ I dreamed about my father, I could hear your voice, were you singing?” 

He nodded and then she was crying, and he took her into his arms to comfort her, “Don’t cry Luce it’s ok…”

“I’m scared of what I would do for you.” She sobbed into his shoulder, “I want to be married to you. These are happy tears, you’re the only person I’d want to do this with.”

“I can’t promise you much except that I’ll always fight for you and for us and keep you and Marylee safe.”

“I guess we’re married then…”

“I guess we are,” He answered and pulled her closer to him, they hugged for a while then he put his arm around her and they walked to the group and sat down in the grass next to Merle and Andrea. Beth and Marylee had made popcorn, and Amy passed some to them. Daryl pulled Lucy over to sit between his legs, and she settled her back against his chest to watch the movie.

Not all of their nights would be as wonderful as this one and there was still trouble out in the world, the dead were walking, people like Ed and his friend the Governor, whoever that was were out there, but tonight they were watching a movie, and that was a beautiful thing..

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading XOXOXOXO Let me know what you think and if you want more.


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